Mysterious Doctor Chronicles
by Poke'ninja Alu
Summary: Dr. Who Chronicles...which number Doctor is he? What secrets is he hiding in that blue box...and in his heart? Join Teresa, Jack and River Song andsee what crazy adventures await in these D-files. Set in the future after the 11th. is it the 12th or 13th? Tardis gets jeaous and turns the doctor into a girl ;   more like boyish girl but yeah
1. Doctor's letter

Dear wonderful human,

To whom this may concern, you have picked up quite an interesting book. Oh? The book is talking to you, you are probably thinking right about …now. Oh, don't look so flabbergasted, the book isn't talking, but I am. Who am I, you ask? Well, that my friend, is a very interesting question. You see, I am not quite sure who I am myself. I could be anything, and everything. In fact, if you really must know, I am what you would call…foreign. Is that the correct term you earth people use? Your kind has always fascinated me, always wanting to learn and get out into the universe. I wonder though, I f you knew what was out there, would you still want to go?

I know I would.

The question is, would you? I'll let you ponder that for a moment.

You done pondering? Good.

My name is one that no one knows. I prefer to keep it that way, but, for the sake of argument, I will call myself John Smith. Oh, most people don't know who I am, and it best be kept that way. This is a recount of a very important time for me. I don't like to dwell in the past, especially involving my home planet Gallifrey. Oh if you really want to look up everything there is to know about it, apparently a secret Dr. Who fan club that I supposedly don't know about, has a whole …what do you call it? Spider…spider…web. The world wide web. Try saying that ten times fast and with marbles in your mouth. The marble part is just me. I always did like a challenge. You humans are so smart, it's a shame that our planets never orbited the same galaxy; I think we would have gotten along quite well. Oh but, enough about me, this is a different story. Well, I suppose it is still the same story but before I ramble off on a tangent, the point of this is to tell you something very important. During the last Great Time War, I was indeed not as young as I am now. Oh, you don't know which doctor I am do you? I suppose that's well and good, but I wouldn't want to mislead you. So, I'll give you a good hint, and if you're as smart as I think you are, then you'll get this lickity split. I am not the first Doctor, nor am I the last. I am not the middle Doctor but I'm also not the past. I also have a smashing hair doo…doodoo… that is a funny word. On any account, I won't give away any spoilers. You'll have to read this to know what this story is about. Oh, I know, I told you I'd tell you, and I am. You just have to read all of this to know what it is I'm telling you.

Go on now, get, and start reading. Reading is good for you, it helps expand your thinking capacity. This crazy lady who is by the way, writing my story up as I tell it, is doing it in third person. I wanted first person but you don't say no to a crazy lady. In fact, I slipped this little letter in myself. Whoever gets this letter, will not only read my story, but also, get a personal letter from yours truly. It's a one in a million chance isn't it? It's like a gamble, and every day is a gamble; well, if you're me that is.

Sincerely truly utmostly,

John Smith a.k.a. The Doctor

P.S. Don't tell crazy lady


	2. Chapter 1

CHAPTER I

He hadn't been sleeping well lately. As to the cause of his insomnia, he was not quite sure. He hadn't eaten anything strange as of late, and especially hadn't tried anything that involved anything spicy. His tongue still burned from when Martha made a bet with him about how much hot sauce he could put on his tongue. In trying to prove he wasn't very stuck up, he had indeed, as the kids put it, let himself get burned. Oh yes, Martha Jones. Wonderful young woman really. She was dark skinned, with rather large lips, but he'd never tell her that. She was fair looking as well, wore makeup like the rest of the females on the planet that were above the age of ten.

He rubbed his eyes, slightly disgruntled. His messy brown hair was getting a little bit out of control as it had not been cut in a while and it hung over in his eyes. Half asleep, he reached for his spruce outfit that he always wore, and to his slow recognition realized that it was not there. His eyes snapped open fully and he sat up so fast that he rolled off the couch he had been sleeping on and onto the wooden floor.

He landed with a disorientated "oof!" and rubbed his head. "Ah, what in the name of fishsticks?" his british accent lay on his words. His surroundings were not that of his T.A.R.D.I.S. That's when it all came back to him. Martha Jones was not there anymore. She hadn't been with him for a while; not since she saw him as a threat and told him that as long as he was around her family they were in danger.

And this house…was definitely not his T.A.R.D.I.S. Where am I? he thought to himself. He blinked as he took in his unfamiliar surroundings. He wondered if he actually did something that humans sometimes did when they were asleep. Sleep walking.

"Cool…" he grinned. He looked down at himself and saw that he was still wearing everything except for his coat. He got to his feet and instinctively dusted himself off. He saw his coat was not anywhere to be found. If he had been sleepwalking though, he frowned as it dawned onto him that sleepwalkers can't open locked doors or windows.

Well, he thought to himself, looks like I'm about to have me-self another adventure. The prospect of not knowing something when he was a man who knew virtually everything, made him rather excited.

The house seemed rather quiet. This is odd, he thought to himself. He looked at the clock. The clock itself said 10:30 a.m. Aren't humans awake at this hour? He thought to himself perplexed. He rubbed his hands together, "Ooh, how I do love a good mystery." His eyes gleamed and he calculated every possible situation that could have landed him here. It was only a second before he realized that this was indeed Martha's house. Martha? He thought, his brow furrowing in surprise. I thought she hated me, he scratched his head. A good mystery ending all too soon, he was undoubtedly a little disappointed.

No sooner had he thought that, than a loud female voice called from behind him, "You're finally up." He whirled to see Martha, arms crossed, and foot tapping.

"I can explain." He said sheepish.

Martha raised her eyebrows. "Can you?"

Struggling to find the right words, he realized he couldn't. "Yeah..No." he responded weakly.

"You really don't remember anything, do you?" she pressed. He blinked.

"Odd, I can't say I do." He said, and his tone was genuine. Martha knew it too because she finally sighed and sat across from him in a recliner. She folded her hands in her lap and stared right into his eyes. His own questionable gaze made her feel shifty, but she did not falter.

"Well, you may not believe me." She said matter-of-factly.

"You'd be surprised Martha Jones, I am a man who believes in everything and nothing." He replied wittily.

She shook her head. "Ok, how do I go about telling a time lord that you did what a typical stupid male human would do."

It wasn't a question.

Now the Time Lord really was curious to know. He had a slight headache, and he shook his head. He rarely got any headaches that weren't from all the voices he could hear inside his head whenever he was translating alien language.

Martha sighed and finally she stated, "You got drunk last night and showed up here in your T.A.R.D.I.S. making quite a ruckus and if it wasn't for the fact that your T.A.R.D.I.S. had landed in the house, there would have been hell to explain."

"I don't get drunk." He stated blankly.

Martha laughed sourly, "That's what all the good men say."

"No, I'm serious. I don't get drunk off of human alchohol. My body flushes it out like it was nothing." He stared.

"Well, apparently you were drowning yourself in it, because when you arrived suddenly, in the middle of the night mind you, you scared the hell out of everyone and with your blubbering like a baby, you were quite a scene." She said, and he could tell that she was a little amused at his total misconduct. He opened and closed his mouth and couldn't find anything to say to counter her argument. He knew that Martha Jones would not lie to him…He decided he'd be smart and change the subject to a lighter note.

"My T.A.R.D.I.S.? Well, at least it's indoors…" he said trying to desperately make the mood light. He wouldn't come right out and say it, but he was overwhelmed with emotions at getting to see his dear friend again. The Doc hadn't liked to be alone since he'd met Rose Tyler, and even though Martha had just been a replacement in the beginning, he really did treasure their friendship now. Apparently he really treasured their friendship enough to show up drunk, although he couldn't remember drinking anything.

His happiness was countered with her contempt as her eyes flashed at him, "It landed on my bed."

His mouth formed a little "o" and he finally shifted his gaze feeling awkward. "Bed ok?" he blurted before he could stop himself. It sounded reasonable and only polite to ask but he regretted it as it was apparent from Martha's gaze, that she thought he was being witty again.

You sir, are too witty for your own good, he thought to himself. An awkward silence elapsed between the two and the man could not find the right words to begin new conversation. He didn't have to. Martha got up and beckoned him to follow her to the kitchen.

His eyes widened. He had faintly smelled something delicious but had focused his senses on Martha more than this and now he saw two blueberry pancakes, with little rivers of syrup running down the sides like a brook in spring.

"Well go on then." She commanded. "Sit and eat up. When you're done get your T.A.R.D.I.S. and get the hell out of here." And as if to remind him that she was still a good girl, she added vehemently, "Please."

He didn't want to go. There was no arguing with that look though. He suddenly lost his appetite. His stomach on the other hand, was on a different page because it kept growling. Quite literally. Martha stared and he knew she was tempted to make a remark about what he was hiding in there. Just intestines and vital organs, he thought, and maybe four kidneys. He always marveled at how remarkably similar his people had been to these earthlings. He frowned, why am I getting so reminiscent now? I haven't dwelled on my past for around 200 years now… I'd think I'd be looking into the future while enjoying the present right now. Martha could tell he was discomforted and in her mind, she figured it was only right since he had nearly killed her accidentally with his T.A.R.D.I.S. Even so, even as she tried to keep her stern mask on, she herself couldn't deny that she had missed the Doctor since he'd been gone.

She pulled up a chair beside him and decided that since he would be shoved out after he had eaten, she might as well be a little nicer to him. He really did look quite lost and she figured she might as well help him understand what she meant by his weird drunk conduct as of last night. "Doctor," she said.

His gaze shifted from the pancakes to and onto her, calm, expectant.

She cleared her throat and continued, "As of your conduct last night… since it may be hard to believe me-"

"No, no, no." he said cutting her off, "I trust you Martha Jones, if you say it happened, then I suppose it must be so. Funny thing is, I don't remember drinking."

"I only mean that I want you to sort of...see what I mean." She said.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked, perplexed. "You mean, go back in time in the T.A.R.D.I.S.? Oh, now that would help me figure out what happened. I wouldn't do it though because that would mean crossing paths with my less present self and I can't go ripping a hole in the space time continuum and disrupting the fabric of time by accidentally causing-"

"That's not what I was getting at." Martha cut him off annoyed. The Doctor shut up and pressed a finger to his lips to show he was going to stay quiet. "I have a device that I believe you'll be fascinated with." She said. A small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, but she held her poker face superbly.

"What could you have, that could possibly amaze a Time Lord?" he said, teasingly at ease. "I have seen galaxies, nebulas, whole planets full of fascinating creatures and technology beyond comprehension." He prattled. Martha walked back over to where he was and held up a strange device he was not familiar with. He racked his brains but out of all the things he could think of, that was not on his list.

"It's a video camera genius." She finally remarked, rolling her eyes.

"No, wait, I know what it is, give me a moment." He paused for effect, and then he smiled hugely and clapped his hands together, "That, Martha Jones, is a video camera, a very useful device for capturing time in the moment. Really, a genius piece of technology created by your race. What makes it so fascinating is that it's portable."

"It's also great for catching drunk Time Lords in their moment of drunken blather. In fact, if I were to put this on Youtube, you can bet your T.A.R.D.I.S. that no doubt, you'd be a best seller." Martha commented.

The Doctor wrapped his mind around the incredible ability of the fact that such a small device could literally capture moments in time without any sort of mumbo jumbo.

Martha could tell that the Doctor was no doubt distracted by his awe at the fabulousness of the human race but she needed to get him back to reality. She snapped her fingers and he blinked. He looked at her saw that she had turned the device on and sure enough, there he was.

He was untidy and apparently very uncouth. The T.A.R.D.I.S. had crushed Martha's small bed and he had come out of it, walking not at all straight. "So sorry 'bout that, you'll be needing a new bed…" he was slurring. Martha and her sister and her parents, well frankly, all the Jones, were staring at him, swaggering around.

"My sister was holding the camera," Martha said, "We had the odd notion that we should get it."

The Doctor watched his drunken self-feeling a mixture of embarrassment and amusement. His drunken self apparently staggered right over to where Martha was, and she said, "Doctor? What the hell are you doing?"

To which the Doctor, apparently began talking so fast and blubbering about how much he needed Martha that she had to hold him up straight. Finally he said, "Nighty night." And conked out just like that.

Martha turned off the camera and raised her eyebrows at the Doctor. He was feeling rather embarrassed. He was also wondering why his T.A.R.D.I.S. had brought him to Martha. He especially wanted to know how he could have gotten so bloody drunk.

"Well, your T.A.R.D.I.S. always has a reason for where it takes you. What reason it could it have had to possibly bring you to me?" Martha pressed.

The Doctor shook his head. "I have no idea. I really don't remember drinking anything Martha Jones." He said dazed. A slow grin began to creep across his face. "But, where's the fun in knowing eh? I think I may find the answer in the T.A.R.D.I.S."

"Then eat up and go." Martha pressed.

The Doctor nodded. Martha went to get his coat and returned to find the Doctor had finished eating already. He stood up and stretched. She handed him his coat and he hugged it, smelling it.

He was brisk and went upstairs with Martha to where his T.A.R.D.I.S. was nestled, amongst the remains of Martha Jones's bed.

"I'm…so sorry again about you know…" he said, one foot in the T.A.R.D.I.S., but the rest of him facing Martha who stood once again arms crossed. "Really, I am."

"Just get going. I have to go to work. I'm wasting time here waiting on you." She said annoyed.

"Martha Jones…" he started.

"Doctor, I don't think I've been clear. You are not welcome." She simmered. The hurt look that flitted for only a moment across his face really stabbed right through her heart. But Martha was firm, because of this man; her family had almost been killed.

The Doctor was respectful of his friend's wishes and as he shut the door behind him, he did not notice the tears that had begun sliding down her cheeks as she turned away.

The familiar, Whhhrrrrrr, Whrrrrrrrrrrr, WHrrrrrrrrr, and the light blinking like a light house or a siren, activated and she turned just in time to see the T.A.R.D.I.S. fade.

"Good bye, Doctor." She whispered. "I will always keep you in my heart." She turned and walked back down the stairs.


	3. Chapter 2

CHAPTER II

The Doctor hummed a small tune, trying to keep the mood light. He had no idea why his beloved T.A.R.D.I.S. had chosen to land in Martha Jones's bedroom but he wondered if it was because he had been just thinking about her and the T.A.R.D.I.S. knew where to go? "You are a real piece of work girl, aren't you." He said not unkindly. Preferring not to dwell on the past, he instead racked his brain for how he, the Doctor, the last of the great Time Lords, had gotten drunk.

As he was thinking he vaguely recalled the events of the previous day. He had been on a small planet Zuto. Zuto was like its cousin Pluto, except Zuto was not a dwarf planet. Zuto was a small planet about…two galaxies to the right of the Milky Way. At coordinates 20-20-30-50 it was located nestled right behind its three moons and one sun, and unlike the earth, it rotated in half the time it took for Earth to do its 360. Zuto had three oceans and only three continents. Its inhabitants were the Kuthulus. Not to be mistaken with the Kuthulu that humans talked about. No, this race was a special kind of race. There were three subspecies of the Kuthulus. One was designated for the sea, one land, and the last for flight. Like many planets that he'd encountered these alien galaxies were inhabited by usually one specific species adapted to it. That's why the Doctor loved Earth so much; it defied the natural laws of the galaxies.

""Think man, think." He told himself. He remembered strolling amongst the blue sand that lined the violet tinted waves, and how the sea foam was as soothing as that of Earth's. The bright orange sun that hung in the sky while the three purple ringed black moons faced in the opposite direction came into his memory. Their six hour days were really splendid. Their six hour nights were even more so. Since Zuto's time was different, so were the sleep patterns. He remembered how he'd gone to a nice bar on the Kuthulan island of Kuthili. He realized that while Earthly liquor couldn't do a number on him….Kuthili was known for its very strong alchohol. So now he knew what had happened before his blackout.

"Well, now that that mystery is done and solved, let's see what busy things I'll be doing today. Groceries…Nah. Alien activity?; let's check shall we?"As he rambled off as old men tend to do, he shook his head shifting back into focus. "I may look young, but I sure don't feel it." He said shaking his head.

It was only a second, but an image of a young girl popped into his head. "Susan…." He breathed. He blinked; he was caught off guard by the formation of salty tears. He rubbed his eyes in a flash. He sank back onto the couch inside of his T.A.R.D.I.S., and sat in silence, nothing but the whirring of the animated engines to break his thoughts. It had really been a long time since he'd last thought of his first companion to ever travel with him. No one knew, but he had been a grandpa once, as well as a father. 900 years ago….didn't sound like such a long time now, he sighed. He had indeed been old once. In human years he would've been in his 70's but because of his regeneration, he had been escaping death's door for a long time.

It was only for a moment, but he allowed himself to remember. He couldn't ever forgive himself if he forgot. Gallifrey…"Imagine a world where the sky burned a brilliant orange under twin suns. The second would rise in the south and the mountains would shine as they swooped into slopes of blood red grass and the wiry brown of the trees poked out between silver leaves. Imagine a world where, in the Mountains of Solace and Solitude, a people lived, a noble race with so much courage that they have two hearts to hold it. Imagine these Time Lords, watching the universe grow old, but never touching it." His voice was soft, and a look, not fitting for such a young face, shown in his eyes.

He smiled sadly to himself, staring at his hands. "No one can outrun time… not even I." he looked up again and stood up abruptly. "And yet, I've been doing one heck of a good job I think." He said cheerfully. Expertly pushing his past away as he'd always done, he pressed the buttons on his T.A.R.D.I.S. and set his coordinates for another less achoholic planet. He'd go to Nexus, hopefully the chances of him showing up drunk to Martha Jones's house would be 0.

He felt the familiar rumbling and rubbed his hands together expectantly. "Lots to do, places to go, people to see." He said cheery and parroting his motto.

He felt the familiar rumbling as the T.A.R.D.I.S. was flying through space. His old gal had been with him since the beginning of everything. He did not dwell on the loss of his people…but it didn't mean he'd forgotten. He'd never forget.

How could he, when he had been a coward.

He sighed to himself and then looked around for his glasses. He fancied them to be fashionable and felt it helped him blend in with the Earth people more.

His destination was to get away from Earth right now. He felt a rumbling and was thrown off balance. "What?" he exclaimed surprised. He rolled over to the main controls of his T.A.R.D.I.S. and punched in some buttons; he had to see what was going on outside his T.A.R.D.I.S. and his eyes widened in surprise to what he saw.

He was in a brightly lit city and he couldn't for the life of him, figure out where he was. The city had bright lights in different colors, and it looked like what humans called a party and gambling district. It also happened to be night time. "Where in the name of Jupiter's moons am I?" he murmured. He sniffed smoke coming from his T.A.R.D.I.S. and realized that it was malfunctioning. "No, no, no!" he gasped shocked and worried. He took of his jacket and tried to fan the T.A.R.D.I.S. "Hang on girl, come one, don't do this to me now!" he muttered. Without so much as a warning, he felt a tug at his nape, and was flung out of the T.A.R.D.I.S. and winded. He coughed and looked up in time to see her slam the door in his face. He stared open mouthed.

She had shut him out.

"Girl, what is it?" he pressed worried. "Come on, you can't do this to me right now! We're in the middle of who knows where, and you landed in quite a spot. You're making a spectacle of yourself." He said ruefully. It dawned on him.

He was thankful that no one was there; he knew he was still on Earth, but apparently people stayed indoors in places like these where gambling and drinking and other touristy things went on. But he didn't think he was in London anymore. In fact, he wasn't sure he was in Europe.

"You know, if it was that time of month, you should have said something earlier!" he said reproachfully. His blue 1970's police box remained silent. And then it did something strange. It began to Whiirrrr, whiiiirr, whirrrrrrr and the Doctor's eyes widened in shock.

"I'm kidding, I kid! Please don't leave me!" he said panicking. He fumbled for his Sonic Screwdriver and realized it was still inside the T.A.R.D.I.S. "That's great, that's just great!" he shouted, panicked, scared, and mainly upset. The door of the T.A.R.D.I.S. opened for a second and his Sonic Screwdriver flew out, hitting him in the head. He fell with an "oof!" to the ground, and while rubbing his forehead, and through watery eyes, observed as his beloved space time ship faded in front of his very eyes.

"I see, you want to be alone then. Fine by me." He said chagrined. Why his T.A.R.D.I.S. landed him here and on top of that, booted him out, was enough to ruin his day. Night. Whatever hell time it was on Earth where he was.

She must be recalibrating herself, he thought moodily. Where am I? he asked himself again. He had never seen this place before. Well, I suppose I'm here for reason…even though she's recalibrating herself, she wouldn't just land me here…. He told himself.

The night breeze rustled through his hair and he pocketed his Sonic Screwdriver. At least she gave that to him, he consented. He decided he might as well take a walk, since she wouldn't be returning for a while. He walked amongst the humans as they were walking on the streets, and cars drove by. People entered and exited the brightly lit buildings and the Doctor couldn't help but be fascinated as he always was, by the earthly sights. "This isn't Africa…" he said to himself, "Nor Asia… not Australia." He looked around and observed the way people looked. "Everyone looks…different here." He said to himself.

"Escuse me." He heard a young girl's voice pipe up. He looked and there standing in front of him was a young tan woman, who looked modestly dressed in her jeans and very fine jacket. Her long dark hair was tied up into a bun on her head and she didn't look like she was wearing much makeup. Uncommon, the Doctor thought, for a female human because he always thought makeup was their best friend. "You seem lost, are you lost?" she asked him and he could tell that she was not asking it as though he was odd, but rather as though he had just made a wrong turn or something.

He shrugged and responded, "If I ask someone where I am, they may think I'm crazy."

"But you're not." She said.

"Oh no, I really am crazy." He pressed. He was slightly amused with this girl.

She folded her arms and responded, "You're not crazy. Trust me, I deal with crazy people every day. Just look at my family. You, sir, are normal in comparison."

"What kind of crazy are we talking about?" the Doctor asked humorously.

"Your state of health I'm sure is not mental." She stated. The Doctor was curious now.

"Really?" he challenged, grinning, "I fly a T.A.R.D.I.S., it's my space and time travel spaceship and it got stuck looking like an old 1970's police box back in 1978 because well, stuff happened. Oh and, I'm not really from here, I'm from a planet far away and I'm the last of my kind. A Time Lord if you will, and might I add, that I look smashing, in these glasses." He prattled, and he put on his glasses to prove his point.

There was a quick silence and he figured he'd probably spilled too much; not that he cared because who would believe her? Actually, to put it more precisely, who in their right state of mind would believe him?

She laughed.

He was taken aback but she was laughing. She extended her hand out to him and her eyes were gleaming kindly. "My name is Teresa, and you are?" she pressed.

The Doctor was intrigued but thought about what he should tell her. "I'm…the Doctor, but everyone calls me…John Smith." He said, shaking her hand.

"The Doctor?" the girl asked and he realized that she had no British accent at all. "Fascinating, I'm a doctor too. Of course, I'm sure my profession is slightly different from yours." She said, teasingly.

"A doctor? You are?" the Doctor asked surprised. "I had a friend who was a doctor too!" he said excitedly.

"Oh really? Where is she?" Teresa asked cheerfully.

"She's…." he remembered and his face fell. "Oh…we're…not exactly on speaking terms…" he said.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Oh. You know. Stuff." He responded waving it off.

"Well, you should go make it up to her!" Teresa pressed him. The Doctor was surprised at how animated this girl was. He blinked.

"She's really not happy with me." He said ruefully.

"What'd you do?" she pressed.

The Doc pondered how to answer and finally he congressed with, "I flew my T.A.R.D.I.S. after getting drunk on Zuto from Kuthulan beer into her bedroom and broke her bed and nearly killed her."

Teresa raised her eyebrows at him. He raised his in response.

"You obviously don't believe me." He said.

"I don't know. It could be lies, but who knows." She said complacently, and shrugged.

The Doctor didn't know exactly why he said what he did, but he did anyways, "I like you. Once my T.A.R.D.I.S. turns up from recalibrating, you want to come with me on space and time adventures?"

"It depends," she said playfully, "Do I get to drive?"

"Only the captain gets to fly his ship. And only a Time Lord can fly their Space ship." The Doctor pointed out. The young woman smiled at him.

"You are a strange man John Smith, but that's not necessarily a bad thing in my books." She said grinning. "Since you are obviously a space man that has gotten lost, we are in Las Vegas."

The Doctor's eyes widened. "Las Vegas?" he asked surprised.

"Yes, and you have obviously never traveled outside of Europe. I suppose you come from London, yeah?" she pointed out.

This girl is sharp as a whip, he thought in awe. He nodded.

"So, you're an alien that has a hot British accent." She pointed out.

"Escuse me, did you say…hot?" he asked.

She shook her head at him. "You really aren't from around here are you?" He continued to look at her questioningly and she rolled her eyes. "It's a compliment. You're cute." She stated.

"Oh…" he said.

"Well, where are you headed then?" she asked him.

"I'm not entirely sure." He said, frowning. She thought he was cute? Last time he had been cute in his books was 845 years ago.

"Well, why don't you come with me then?" she asked. He blinked at her.

"Oh no, I couldn't possibly do that. Do you make it a habit to pick up hot British aliens?" he asked her.

"If there are more as cute as you then possibly." She said, teasingly.

"There aren't." he stated automatically. She stared at him. He looked at the ground and saw her feet stand right in front of his. A warm hand slid into one of his limp ones and she tugged him before he could object.

"You look like you could use a pick-me-up." She said cheerily.

"Oh, no, it's quite alright. I don't really drink!" he stammered.

"You're my kind of guy." She laughed. "Don't worry," she said smiling at him, "You're cute but you're not in any danger of having me fall in love with you."

"It's the glasses isn't it?" the Doctor couldn't stop himself from joking.

"I prefer a guy that's more grounded I guess." She said, smiling but her voice had gotten softer. The Doctor realized that she must have had a recent break up. She wasn't the only one. He had had a recent loss as well. Rose Tyler. Dona Noble. Martha Jones… His hand that had been limp before now reassured her as he knew she was the one that needed comforting now. They smiled at each other and then she slipped her hand deftly out of his.

"Come on then," she said, and the Doctor saw that she was getting into a human car. "It's a Hyundai if you didn't know." She pointed out to him. She patted the passenger seat. "Come on in, and don't forget to fasten your seat belt. Do aliens have seatbelts?" she asked.

"No, my T.A.R.D.I.S. is like a bus…" he said. He was not familiar with not only driving in a car; but not being the one in control..

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

"It's just…my T.A.R.D.I.S…. it may turn up any second and I don't want to leave it." He stated. Teresa rested her head on her wheel and gazed at him.

"Well, if it is your T.A.R.D.I.S. then I'm sure it'll find you, no matter where you are." She pointed out.

"I've never truly been away from it before…" he said honestly.

"John, was it?" she asked. He looked at her. "What you told me, about the T.A.R.D.I.S., about you. I believe it."

"Yes, but why? Why do you believe me so readily?" he asked.

"Because, you're the Doctor." She stated.

His eyes widened. "Do I…know you?" he asked suspiciously. She shook her head at him.

"No, but there is something about you….I can't not believe you. I've always been open to the impossible and I suppose, you're part of that impossible." She said. "You too, you need to believe in the impossible."

He looked at her confused.

"You're T.A.R.D.I.S. will find you. You have to believe in it." She said.

The Doctor didn't quite understand, but he felt that she was telling the truth. Humans, "You humans are truly remarkable." He said praisingly. He got into the car and fastened his seat belt.

"My house is only about an hour and a half in land from here. You can stay until your T.A.R.D.I.S. returns." Teresa said.

"Alright then." The Doctor replied. His two hearts began to beat faster and he felt like he had indeed not been put here by mistake. The reason why he was not only outside of England, but in fact in North America, had to be for an important reason. This had never happened before, but he expected many things that hadn't happened before to happen to him.

He gripped the seat at first; he wasn't used to being in a car. He felt very vulnerable; a feeling he marveled that humans suppressed every day when they drove these contraptions. He hadn't realized how intriguing it was to be in a human car.

A pair of glittering black eyes flashed from under Teresa's car; but neither Teresa nor the Doctor were aware of the danger that they were both about to be in.


	4. Chapter 3 and 4

CHAPTER III

Her eyes fluttered open as she sat up in her bed. What a strange dream, she thought to herself. She had dreamt that she had met a strange man, called the "Doctor" whose alias was John Smith. She didn't think John Smith was his real name but she hadn't questioned him about it. Oh well, it was just a dream, she thought to herself. She smelled smoke and then heard the sprinklers in her small apartment complex go off.

"What the?" she exclaimed and leapt out of bed. She pulled on her bath robe and ran down the rickety stairs and saw to her utter surprise, the same man from last night. He was in the kitchen and had been fiddling with the stove; no doubt trying to cook something and had ended up overcooking what looked to be eggs. She leaned against the railing and laughed. She shook the water from her now wet hair and grinned at his sheepishness.

"The eggs are done." He said meekly.

"Let's clean this all up." She said reassuringly. The sprinklers shut off and a few minutes later they heard a fire truck coming down their street. They shared a look.

Her land lord came banging on the door disgruntled and annoyed. She opened the door and had to explain to him about how her friend was from out of town.

After that she had to explain the same story to the firemen, and the police. Meanwhile the Doctor was hiding in the bathroom. He felt safer there.

"I am so sorry…" he kept apologizing after everything had settled and they were back in the kitchen. Teresa held up her hand.

"No need, no need. How about, I cook and you sit?" she asked.

"That sounds spiffy." He said weakly.

She raised her eyebrows. "Spiffy?" she asked. "I thought I was the only one who used that old word now-a-days."

"I'm…old fashioned." He countered.

"Being a Time Lord and all that, you must have seen everything." She said trying to discreetly pry for more answers.

"I have seen many things…" he agreed, "but, there is always something new to see every day, right-o?" he said cheerily.

She made fried eggs and poured some orange juice and he helped by setting the table. They sat and ate in dutiful silence. "So, it's ok to eat people food?" she asked him.

"Oh yes, it's quite alright. In fact, I rather like the many types of strange dishes this planet has to offer." The Doctor said brightly.

"Well, it must be nice." She sighed, and resting her elbows on the table she gazed at the cute Brit alien across from her. "I wish I was a Time Lord." She said longingly. She saw a flicker in his eyes.

He played with his glass, not looking at her, and responded, "Would you find it strange if I said…I wish I could be a normal human?"

She frowned. "I'd say you are bloody friggin' crazy to pass up that opportunity."

"I suppose you are right." He sighed.

"Hey, don't get so down. If you want, maybe we can trade places for a day and I'll go to your planet and you can stay on mine for a day." She said, teasing.

Silence met her comment. She shifted uncomfortably.

"The reason why, I wish I could be a human sometimes," the Doctor finally said slowly, "is because here, you have something to come back to. My own home….was destroyed. There was this war…the last of the great time wars."

Just like that, the Doctor explained to Teresa his reasons for why he wanted to be human. He kept plenty to himself but he told her what he felt she needed to know. He talked about his life and how much he valued the friends he had made along the way. He talked because he needed someone to talk to, and she listened. Teresa listened as he described planets, worlds, the aliens that came with them. When he had finished, he had tears in his eyes, and he felt a comforting hand on his; she had tears in her eyes as well.

"Looks like your T.A.R.D.I.S. knew I would be here." She said lightly, wiping her eyes. The Doctor didn't always understand the motives behind his sassy flying machine, but he felt that there was no such thing has chance.

"I don't believe in chance," he said, "our meeting was meant to be. The question is, what is the reason?" he got up and pulled out his Sonic Screwdriver and began scanning the room.

Teresa looked at it amazed. "What is that?" she asked.

"Sonic Screwdriver, I may have updated it a tad." He said, walking around the room.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Teresa right?" he asked.

She nodded. "Alright, Teresa," he said, "My lovely, smart, and wonderful T.A.R.D.I.S. has caused our paths to cross. The reason for this is not one that I know. One thing I can count on though," he continued, "is that my T.A.R.D.I.S. always has a good, no, superb reason."

As if to prove his point, the Sonic Screwdriver made a bleeping sound and he looked at the scanning result. "Alien activity eh?" he said. Teresa stared at him burning with questions. He looked up at her, and his face shown like a child's. "Get dressed Teresa," he said, "we're going on an adventure."

Walking briskly to the garage he explained to Teresa, "Your car, has an alien life attached to it." Teresa's eyebrows raised so high up her forehead he expected them to disappear completely off her face.

"My car? An Alien has attached itself to my car?" she repeated in awe.

"Don't be alarmed, I have the situation under control." He reassured her. She grinned at him.

"Alarmed? That's bloody awesome." She said, trying to imitate a British accent. The Doctor winced and she knew she had failed. She laughed though and he put a finger to his lips shushing her.

The Sonic Screwdriver went up and down and she watched fascinated as the Doctor crept around the car and then the Screwdriver made a shrill beep and the Doctor read aloud, "alien bomb detected." A split second later he pushed Teresa out of the building frantically and a huge explosion could be heard as he shielded Teresa with his body.

They both watched horrified as the whole apartment complex went up in huge flames. "All my stuff is in there…" Teresa said blankly.

"Are you ok? Are you hurt?" the Doctor asked her.

He turned and they both watched as flames licked the sky and heard the screams of the other residents. Teresa covered her hands over her mouth and stared. "Let's go." The Doctor grabbed her by the arm and steered her away. She let herself be led.

They stumbled away from the smoke, the screams, and the sirens.

People were rushing towards the fire; they were rushing to get away from it. Teresa had begun to cry and the Doctor held her hand firmly as they shoved through the crowd and attempted to make their way anywhere but there.

They didn't stop until they came to a small café in which they stopped and sat down; both of them were exhausted.

Panting, they reflected what they felt in their eyes; pain.

The Doctor held Teresa as she cried like a child. He couldn't blame her; she'd almost gotten blown up. Passerby ran past them and no one bothered to look their direction.

The Doctor knew that whoever had planted that alien technology on Teresa's car was no doubt after her.

Or him.

Either way they'd have to face him because he had lost so much; as long as he still had his two hearts beating, he would let no harm come to his friends. "It'll be ok Teresa, I swear I'll protect you." She nodded into his sleeve. She pushed herself away from him and wiped her eyes. He was taken aback to see a gleam shining in her eyes; not fear.

"Whoever did that has hell to pay." She said through gritted teeth.

The Doctor wanted to tell her violence is never the answer, but he had no sympathy for whomever had killed all those people in an attempt to get to him and Teresa.

"I agree." He said calmly. He stood up and offered Teresa his hand. "Stick close to me, and you'll be safe. I promise." He said firmly.

Teresa nodded. The Doctor and Teresa ran down the sidewalk. "Where are we going?" she panted.

"T.A.R.D.I.S. is calling to my Sonic Screwdriver!" he responded. "She's fully calibrated and waiting for me a little ways from here!"

"How does a space ship tell you where she is?" Teresa exclaimed.

"She's not just any old spaceship! She's alive." He responded and they ran into an alley. "It's Just as you said, believe in the impossible where logic doesn't fit!"

Coming to the end Teresa's eyes widened. In front of her was an old fashioned 1970's telephone police box. The Doctor used his Sonic Screwdriver to open the door and beckoned her in. Teresa's eyes widened as she took in the interior of the magnificent space ship.

"That police box you got defines the meaning of misnomer." Teresa said, awestruck. She blinked though. She wasn't about to forget about what had just happened. She looked at the Doctor who was pressing buttons and muttering to himself.

"Setting coordinates for the ship that developed this alienanomosity." He said firmly.

"Is that a real word?" Teresa asked.

"Where I come from, yes." He stated distractedly setting the coordinates and scanning in his Sonic Screwdriver. "Before the bomb went off, my Sonic Screwdriver pinpointed all the information we need, to go-"

"-Kick their ass?" Teresa finished.

The Doctor nodded, " Wasn't the term I was going for but yeah. Oh you may want to grab hold of something."

"Really? Why's that?" Teresa asked and a sudden rumbling convinced her otherwise.

"That's why." The Doctor stated cheerfully. "It's going to be a bumpy ride."

CHAPTER IV

"This is so freakin' weird…" Teresa breathed. After she'd gotten over the shock, she knew that her life was going to be very different after meeting the Doctor.

The rumbling because of the T.A.R.D.I.S. caused Teresa to cling to the railing as she watched fascinated by the man in front of her who was constantly and animatedly clicking buttons.

He looked up at her. "We'll be there in a minute."

"Where are the weapons?" she asked, looking around.

"There aren't any." He said matter-of-factly.

Teresa stared at him incredulously. "Then how the frick are we supposed to beat them?" she panicked.

"Leave that to me." He said firmly. "You are to stay in the T.A.R.D.I.S. where you will be safe."

Teresa stared. "So, I'm just a liability to you, is that it?" she asked slowly.

"Not a liability, I just can't focus if someone I care about is in harm's way." He said gently. "Plus, I'm a Time Lord and humans can't breathe outside of their solar system." He said truthfully; leaving out the information that the T.A.R.D.I.S. was capable of making an oxygenated force field.

Teresa sat down on the couch and crossed her arms, and legs. "Very well, Captain." She said, eyes glittering. "Raise hell out there."

"You can count on it." He said, eyes glittering back.

The T.A.R.D.I.S. came to a standstill and the Doctor swiftly like a gazelle made his way to the door. He slowly creaked it open and was greeted with silence on a desolate planet. He stepped out of the T.A.R.D.I.S., taking in his surroundings. Without Teresa realizing what he had done, he nimbly sealed the door shut with his Sonic Screwdriver, and pocketing it, turned away from his blue police box.

A haze seemed to rest like a blanket over the area he was. A deep fog that was impossible to see through and air that was choking his lungs made him stumble a bit. He began to cough, staggering backwards. The stench was horrific. He didn't know what it was, but the air of this planet was very, very polluted. He realized that he did not recognize this planet either.

"Where am I?" he murmured. The Fog was thick and he looked back once to where his T.A.R.D.I.S. stood, brilliant and indestructible. "I'll be right back girl." He whispered. He turned and walked into the depths of the strange fog.

Scanning, scanning…he thought to himself, scanning the area again. The fog was less thick in some areas and luckily he had found one of those areas. This isn't good, he thought to himself, whatever is in that fog, is enough to weaken me. At the same time, he was fascinated by what sort of creature could possibly live in this sort of natural habitat. If it was natural. His Sonic Screwdriver scanned some strange looking black tube and the Doctor realized that it was a giant cable.

A cable?... On a planet this far out in the galaxy? He thought to himself puzzled. A slow grin spread across his face; oh yes, he always loved learning something new every day. "This must be…." His eyes widened and he snapped his fingers.

"Of course! How could I have missed it? Brilliant. Bloody brilliant." He rubbed his hands together. They weren't tubes, they weren't cables, "This is an ectoplasnic regenerator…used by the Velvens… A species thought to have lived as long as the-"

"-Time Lords." A voice said smoothly behind him. The Doctor whirled in surprise.

"Ah, hello there." He said, "You must be…."

He eyed the tall reptilian like creature in front of him. It walked on two legs, and was human like in its appearance except skin was replaced with grey scales and it had a long reptilian like tail that swished behind it. A forked tongue slithered out of its mouth and the Doctor cringed as he heard it hissing at him. "Ah, Ah, Ah, that hurts!" he yelped, clutching his head.

He could understand the language of the alien, but it wasn't talking to him at the moment; he realized it was burning his mind.

He sank to his knees as the pain increased. It spoke to him with its lips perfectly, "Foolish little Time Lord…so arrogant in your ways…."

"Why…are you doing this...?" he groaned. He fumbled, dazedly pointing his Sonic Screwdriver at the strange creature. It was not a Velven…. He didn't know what it was.

"My people were hurt by your people." It said in a voice that was half hissing, half speaking. His Sonic Screwdriver beeped and the alien hissed, and before the Doctor could dodge, the Sonic Screwdriver was knocked out of his possession. He scrambled for it but the Alien held it out of his reach, and the fog was going into his lungs, and the Doctor learned all too late that it wasn't fog; it was a strange sort of gas that was foreign to even him, and apparently whatever was in it, was slowing down his Respiratory System.

He felt like he was drowning and he collapsed. He lifted his head weakly, looking up at the strange creature. "Can't we work this out like civilized beings?" he mustered.

"Civility, died with the deaths of our races." It hissed and the Doctor was getting hazier.

"That's…just fine and proper…then….." he slurred. He shook his head and struggled to get up but he felt a blow to his stomach and he was thrown backwards onto the cold hard ground. He coughed.

"I knew that if I sent my little alien child, that she would not disappoint." It hissed at him. The Doctor looked in front of his nose and as his eyes came into focus, he saw a strange little black robot with beady eyes and four spiderlike legs in front of him. It shot out a beam of blue light and it was scanning him.

"Your people were once so great…. As mine were.." it hissed at him. He struggled to his knees and it forced him to stand. He felt his hands go behind his back and something heavy clamped around his wrists. "You are the last of the great Time Lords…I am the last of the great Reptilius people."

"If you want me to help you, then forget it." The Doctor stated. "You killed innocent people."

"But what are they to you, Time Lord?" it hissed at him, its slits narrowing.

"You tried to kill me." He pointed out, "you had put a small tracker on my friend's car, didn't you? How did you know I would meet her though?"

The Reptilian sneered, "My people are known for their good….fortelling. It is not so simple to kill a Time Lord."

"Your people, your people, what did my people ever do to yours? I don't even remember ever seeing your kind!" the Doctor said angrily.

"Course you didn't, Time Lord child." It hissed, "It happened before you were born."

The Doctor was stunned. His people were generally known for staying out of trouble, and yet they had wiped out an entire race?

"You're lying," he said stern, "I would have read about it in school."

"You are a fool, aren't you, Time Lord child." It sneered, "Not everything you read in school makes it so."

"What then…if not my death…why would you need me?" He shot back, but he already knew that answer.

"You know why, Time Lord child." It hissed at him, eyes glittering angrily. "You will bring me back in time to change the fate of my people…"

"That was a fixed point!" the Doctor deflected, "Fixed points cannot be ever, EVER changed otherwise the very fabric of time itself will unravel!"

"There are no fixed points, Time Lord child!" it roared at him, pulling his face right up against its own. "Time can be changed….you are just a coward!" it spat in his face. The Doctor flinched and the creature flung him to the ground where he was winded.

He rolled on his side, but his hands were bound. His vision was going blurry and he knew that his companion, Teresa was in danger along with the T.A.R.D.I.S., unless he could somehow get back. He saw more black robotic little things scurrying over to where he was. "Teleport." He heard the creature hiss and felt the odd sensation of floating. A split second later he was on the floor of a space ship.

The air inside was breathable and his system was slowly but surely pumping out the toxin that had been slowing him down on the planet itself.

Give it time…he thought. He had to stall until the toxins were completely out of his system.

He struggled to his knees and saw a flash before it hit him. He groaned as he fell against the railing. Blinking, he saw stars, real stars flashing before his eyes from the stun.

"Take your time…" the creature hissed at him, and he saw that there were little robots that had their red lasers all pointed at him if he moved again. "After all, you Time Lords have all the time in the world…"

The Doctor's two hearts began to beat faster in his chest and he felt sick to his stomach. He felt completely defenseless without his T.A.R.D.I.S. or Sonic Screwdriver. He decided to stall, he was good at stalling. He was very good with words. He clicked his tongue while looking around his surroundings. As long as he wasn't moving too much, the other robots seemed to leave him alone. The lone Reptile like alien was concentrating on controls and the Doctor felt a shift underfoot.

"Whoa, whoa, what are you doing?" he asked confused.

"We are going to your planet." The creature replied.

"You can't go…" the Doctor's mouth went dry. "I-it's just rocks…and dust…everything…..everything….." he couldn't finish his sentence. Emotions he'd hidden for 900 years seemed to rush at once and he grit his teeth to hold them all back.

"I am well aware…." It hissed, "if you won't help me…then I will leave you to rot with the memories of your people….as I have been forced to do."

The Doctor's eyes widened. "You don't have to be alone!" he stammered, "I… I can help. Please, let me help!"

The creature narrowed its eyes at him, and hissed, "The only help I seek from you Time Lord…is the chance to save my race. If you had the choice…wouldn't you do the same?"

The Doctor lowered his gaze. "I did have that choice…." He said finally, "I had that choice….to change the last great Time War…."

"You are a coward." It stated simply.

"I was a coward," he consented, "but not for the reasons you think."

"You and I are the last of our kind, you who alone has the power to bend space and time, and yet, you do nothing to save your people?" it hissed.

"When you put it like that, you make me seem…selfish." The Doctor replied weakly.

He felt the remains of the toxins leave his body. Now all he had to do, was wait for the right moment to escape.

The creature shook its great scaly head and replied, "You are a selfish fool."

The Doctor was swift as a wink and as the lasers shot at him he swiftly dodged. The creature halted the spaceship from leaving the planet and whirled on him, hissing angrily at his disruption.

He ran head on right at the creature and it shot its scaly tail at him and he jumped over it like it was a hurdle, swindle kicking the surprised Reptilian in the jaw. It flew back and his Sonic Screwdriver was reclaimed by him. His hands were still tied, but he figured he'd work that out later. For now, he used his Screwdriver to disrupt the signals to the robots causing them to malfunction. He aimed his Sonic Screwdriver next, at the control panel and as a small fire began and electricity crackled, the Doctor backed away towards the staircase where below he knew would be the teleportation device. A hiss came from the alien and it slashed at him quickly. He stumbled and his Sonic Screwdriver rolled out of his grasp. His shoulder hurt where he had landed. He felt two scaly hands grab his jacket and press on his back as the creature loomed over him.

"You foolish man!" it hissed. He kneed it and it cried in pain rolling off of him. He deftly ran to the teleportation green ring.

The creature roared seething, "Who do you think you are, thinking you can defy me?"

Right before he stepped onto the teleportation device, and while sparks flew around him, the Doctor stared right at his fallen enemy, and said, "Hello, I'm the Doctor. You have one chance, and one chance only. If you don't take this chance to go live in peace, if you come back and try to harm me or my friend again, there will be no warning. No mercy. I will take you down. If you know who it is you're up against, do the smart thing." The last part was a mere soft whisper, "Let someone else go first." With that he stepped into the green light and the creature hissed in anger as its ship began to smoke and the Doctor had escaped, destroying the teleport with his Sonic Screwdriver as he went.

"Showing me mercy Doctor…sealed your fate. " it hissed. "The next time we meet, it will be I who shows no mercy."


	5. Chapter 5,6,7

CHAPTER V

Teresa saw the door swing open and she looked up to see the Doctor stumbling in. "Hey? Are you ok?" she asked, and she ran over to support him. She saw the strange metal octagonal clasps around his wrists. "John, you were captured?" she gasped. The Doctor did his familiar bob side to side contemplation nod and finally answered with a nod.

"I thought I'd just have a looks aroundsie and I ended up getting my hands tied behind my back. Quite Literally, see?" and he turned to show her.

She inspected them and sighed. "There is no lock. How are we to get them off?"

"Take my Sonic Screwdriver," he said cheerfully, "That's it, go on, and just you know….wave it around I suppose, let's see what happens."

"What button do I press?" she asked, taking it from him.

"You have to press the Sonic Recreator at the same time as the Sonic warper and then slide your finger down the Soniczapper….thingy." he told her, sitting down on the couch quite comfortably.

Teresa shook her head at the strange man and teased, "Do you put Sonic in front of everything just to make it sound cooler?"

"Is it working?" he grinned.

She shook her head at him and then inspected the odd alien device in her hands. There was a few minutes silence as she fumbled with the controls. "This is….hard….you make it look so easy." She groaned.

The Doctor shrugged, "I've had years to practice, no, centuries."

She looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"What? I'm not trying to be smug about being a Time Lord or anything." He said smiling.

"So, this is you when you're modest?" she asked.

"Yes." He answered simply.

Teresa rolled her eyes. "I'd punch you if you weren't so cute." She said sternly.

"Kudos for me looking cute then, eh?" he said grinning widely.

"How many of them were there?" Teresa asked.

"Just one. " the Doctor replied, "oh but that's not counting the little robotic drones it managed to create. Brilliant mind for such a …scaly creature I must say."

Teresa could tell that the Doctor was being oddly cheery, the abnormal level. She helped him get out of his alien cuffs. He sighed with relief as he flexed his fingertips. "Did you manage to kill it?" she asked.

The Doctor made a perfect poker face as he replied, "No, but I did give it a warning. I believe that it deserves at least one chance to redeem itself. Don't you?"

Teresa stared at him. "That thing tried to kill me! And you! Mainly you."

"Yeah, I gathered that when I had a nice little chat from the ground where it kicked me like I was a football." He responded.

"Is that British for Soccer ball?" she asked.

"Oh right, almost forgot you're an American." He said. "I'll be monitoring its actions, and as for you… you must not leave my side no matter what." He said, and Teresa saw in his eyes no sign of….any emotion.

It was a little unsettling. He sounded happy and his eyes gleamed when he was jolly, but other than happy…and probably sad, it was as though he lacked any other sort of feeling. It was odd. She watched as he hummed, clicking random buttons. He turned to her pausing what he was doing and asked, "Why didn't you come after me?"

"You told me to stay." She replied simply, shrugging.

"Yes but, that's the wonder of you humans," he pressed.

"What is?" she asked.

"You don't listen." He stated.

"Is that a compliment?" Teresa asked slightly miffed.

She saw how the Doctor struggled to find the right words and the funny hand motions that he did, and then he replied, "Yes, yes of course it is a compliment! It's the way you think, the ability to not let fear prevent you from challenging your mortal boundaries!"

Teresa was amused at this strange childish like Doctor's obsession with the human race. "So, should I take it that I should've gone after you?" she asked.

He did that odd nod to side thing once again.

"At your own risk." He replied.

" The funny thing is, you said I'd die if I followed you." She pointed out.

"You're in danger with me either way, what's a little…death possibility to stop you?" he replied.

"Ooh, I see. So, you get a kick out of being in danger?" she prodded.

The Doctor was firm in not responding right away. Teresa wondered if she'd crossed the line and was about to apologize when he looked up at her and smiled, brightly claiming, "We have arrived at our destination, Nexus."

"Nexus?" she asked confused.

"Yes, Nexus." He responded cheerily.

"What is…Nexus?" Teresa asked, her heart beginning to pound. She knew it was an alien planet, but what sort of alien planet was the question.

"Oh, it's a jolly sort of place really," the Doctor was prattling happily, "full of beautiful botanical gardens. You ever heard of Never Ever Land?"

His animated banter was amusing to Teresa and she followed him to the door. He leaned against it, hand on the handle, and she looked at him from across. His eyes had that childish mischievous glint in them and they grinned at each other. He opened the doors and Teresa raised her eyebrows.

They were back in Las Vegas.

The Doctor scratched his head and looked around at an utter loss for words. "This can't be right." He murmured. He ran back into the T.A.R.D.I.S. and Teresa followed, closing the door.

She watched as he patted the T.A.R.D.I.S. and seemed to be… talking to it?

"Come on girl," he whispered, patting the central system; an odd tube with a strange blue light that glowed, "You're fully functional now, why did you bring us back to where we…." He slowed down. He turned to Teresa who looked at him questioningly.

"This is where we first met." He said slowly. "Yesterday…. That's the sidewalk we were talking to each other."

Teresa gazed at him, "You telling me that we….went back in time a day?" she whispered.

Actually, that hadn't been what the Doctor was thinking, but he realized that it could be very possible. He frowned and scratched his head agitatedly. "That can't be right though! I make it a rule to never cross my own time stream. Or anyone's for that matter." He said.

"Maybe we're in the future?" she asked hopefully. He looked at her.

"Why aren't you asking more questions about the great inter-workings of time travel?" he asked her.

She raised her eyebrows at him and replied, "You're not the only one who understands the rules of time travel you know." This was definitely not the answer the Doctor had been expecting.

A slow grin spread across his young handsome face. "Remarkable, you humans truly are. Well, this makes explaining things so much easier." He clapped his hands together. He sat on the couch and rubbed his hands together. Teresa walked and leaned against the railing next to his couch.

"So, we don't know what time it is." She started.

The Doctor looked up at her and he said, "Yes we do."

He pointed to a strange contraption thing that looked like the equivalent of an old tape recorder, except it was as big as a book. Teresa picked it up. "What is this?" she asked, looking at him.

"That's my….Time keeper." He said.

"So, it tells time?" she asked.

"It's for wibbly wobbly timey whimey…stuff." He said.

"So you're a Doctor who does wibbly wobbly timey whimey stuff?" she asked, raising her eyebrows slightly amused.

"In a nutshell." He replied.

"Great, let's see what time it is." She said briskly and she handed the device to him. He pressed a few buttons and then the tape part of the device began rolling and a few numbers became holligrammed in mid-air.

"It is approximately 4:50 p.m. Pacific Time." The Doctor commented. Teresa gazed fascinated. "I meet you around….five thirty." He continued. He looked up at her and said amazed, "It sure gets dark here early doesn't it?"

"You're not in Europe anymore." She replied shrugging.

"I have an important question to ask you. It is of vital importance that you be honest with me." He said seriously.

"Yes?" she asked alarmed as he grabbed her by her shoulders. The device shut off now and was lying on the couch.

"Do you have fishsticks?" he asked solemnly. "I mean, the really good kind."

Teresa brushed his touch off and put her hands on her hips. "A Time Lord, master of the universe, who has landed us in the past, gotten my home blown up, and has aliens that want to kill you… the most important thing on your mind is fishsticks? What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I'm hungry, let's eat." The Doctor replied grinning and quick as a wink, dashed to the door and beckoned for her to follow. "The T.A.R.D.I.S. won't let us leave this area so I can only assume that I have business here. Until we can uncover what that business is, why not have some fun?"

"You are such an odd ball." She said, but her interest was piqued. She followed the gallant man out of the T.A.R.D.I.S. and they made their way to the central plaza. He whistled admiringly.

"So, where exactly are we, in Las Vegas?" he asked her.

"I don't really know off the top of my head. They usually have a map guide. Here, let me check." Teresa responded, and she took out her cellphone; the one thing that hadn't gotten blown up.

"What is that?" he asked her dazzled.

"It's a cellphone." She replied, smiling at his childish curiousity.

"Yes, I know it's a cellphone…just…what is it?" he asked again.

"Oh, it's a touch screen, and I'm using an app." She said, "A map quest."

"That's… how do you young ones put it?" he asked her helpfully.

"Chill." She said, "We typically used that's rad, or chill or bitchin."

"I'll stay away from the profanity." He remarked.

She laughed. "You'd be the only one then. Kids now use it as though it was the same as saying hi."

"Really? What do you mean?" he asked surprised.

"As an example, here." She said and she stopped walking on the sidewalk. The Doctor faced her, puzzled at her action. "Tell me, "hi." "

"Ok…hi?" he said.

"Hi baby, what's up." She responded in a deep tone of voice. The Doctor raised his eyebrows.

"That's the kind of response we girls may get now when we talk to guys." She said, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

"That's bad?" the Doctor asked perplexed.

"It is if they're ten and haven't hit puberty yet." She grimaced. "And that is without them swearing thinking it's all cool."

"Sounds…complicated." He remarked.

She gave a little snort. "Yeah, I'm sure that where you came from your-" she gasped and stopped talking. Her voice trailed off and her eyes gazed at the Doctor who was walking very silently now.

"What is it?" he asked her surprised.

She blinked. "Oh, no… I just thought that …since you know…" she shifted uncomfortably.

"It's fine." He said coolly. "It's all in the past anyways, right?" He put his hands in his coat pockets and shrugged as he walked along.

Teresa walked beside him and she wanted to ask him so many things. The Doctor halted her outside of a brightly lit building in particular. "This looks like an interesting…establishment. Very…stylish….late 1900's correct?" he asked Teresa, turning to her.

She shrugged. "I dunno, but I do know that this is a gambling bar. You won't find your beloved fish sticks in there." She said. Some giggling came from behind them and they turned to see two ladies with very big breasts walk over to them; swaggering to be exact. They waved to the Doctor who pointed to himself confused. They laughed and nodded. He looked at Teresa who grabbed him by the arm and hissed, "He's with me. Go get some other guy to play with you."

"Wow, stingy lil' bitch aren't you?" one of the ladies sniffed.

"Sorry ladies, I really am otherwise engaged." He said meekly.

The two girls giggled and squealed. He looked alarmed.

"He's British Meg! Did you hear him?" she squealed to her brunette companion.

Meg looked at the Doctor who looked very, confused and she grinned. "Hannah, isn't he just adorable?" she crooned.

Hannah, batted her lashes seductively at him. Teresa rolled her eyes, and grabbing him by the arm, led him away from the two girls who were whistling at him.

They thankfully didn't follow them but Teresa was annoyed. "If I wasn't here, Lord knows where you'd be right now." She seethed.

"Are you….mad at me?" the Doctor asked puzzled.

"Not you, no." she sighed, "I just feel like you have a very….poor set of people skills."

" You sure we're talking about me? I'm a guy that hates to travel alone. I'm lacking people skills?" he repeated incredulously.

"You're not very aware." She pointed out.

"I could tell they were…flirty." He said defensive.

"That's good." She said relieved. The Doctor looked around and Teresa scratched her head. She looked at the Doctor and commented, "You're really going to attract attention in this clothing."

"What? But I like my outfit." He said ruefully.

"I suppose it'd be pointless to ask you to change?" she asked.

"Completely." He answered instantly.

Teresa decided it was best not to argue and she and he walked although they made sure to stick to the area where the T.A.R.D.I.S. was. "That's strange." Teresa suddenly said, coming to a standstill.

"What?" The Doctor asked.

"It's almost…five thirty right?" she asked.

The Doctor shrugged. "I left my time teller in the T.A.R.D.I.S., what's your handy dandy device say?"

"It says it's almost five." She answered. "I just wonder why would your T.A.R.D.I.S. bring us back to toni-?" and as she was talking, they both heard the familiar whiiiir, whiiiiir, whiiiiiir, and saw as the T.A.R.D.I.S. from the day before(technically) appeared. Teresa was pushed behind a tree with the Doctor and they gazed out mutely to the small patch of green that the other Doctor was being thrown out of the T.A.R.D.I.S. and the conversation that followed.

"Just wait," The Doctor whispered to Teresa, "that old gal will just up and leave me to go do her recalibrating business."

They waited for a few seconds and the Doctor noticed a strange little creature attach itself to the back of his T.A.R.D.I.S. His eyes widened. Time was slowly ticking but the T.A.R.D.I.S. was not moving, in fact, the little creature on top was doing something to the T.A.R.D.I.S.! His T.A.R.D.I.S.! "Oh no you don't you little parasite." His eyes flashed, and he whipped out his Sonic Screwdriver, and pointing it right at the T.A.R.D.I.S. they both watched as the little creature; whatever it had been, teleport away instead of being affected. The Doctor frowned. "That's new." He said perplexed.

His T.A.R.D.I.S. then began to disappear and they watched as the other Doctor wandered off in a confused agitated state of mind. "A few minutes from now you'll meet me and then…." Teresa said.

"Yes, I know." The Doctor replied. His gears began to turn, and he began reasoning all the possibilities. He wondered if this was a fixed point or if time could be changed. If tomorrow hadn't yet happened?... No…he thought to himself firmly, It's thinking like that that will make me a real fool.

But what if it was possible….?

That what if, lingered in the back of his mind.

CHAPTER VI

"Why would the T.A.R.D.I.S. bring us back in time?" Teresa asked him.

"I don't know." The Doctor replied and then he paused. Teresa looked at him worried. He turned to her in awe, "I don't know. Something I don't know." He grinned like an idiot and Teresa wondered if he really was as batty as a fruitcake.

"I have a theory," she said briskly.

The Doctor raised his eyebrows at her, "Alright, let's hear it." He said curious.

"Alright, I believe that even though you can't technically cross your own time stream because lord knows the repercussions it'll have on the rest of the universe, but," she said in a rush, "what if, this time is something that was meant to happen? We were sent in the past because we have to change something… something important that happened that can't happen… like the fire." She said hopefully.

The Doctor's face was a mixture of awe and fascination. "You miss, are a real piece of work." He said praisingly. "You're one of the smartest people I've ever met…besides myself of course."

Teresa couldn't help but feel a little proud. "I have an active imagination." She said, grinning.

"Alright then, what do you think we should do?" he asked. He honestly had no leads and this girl had some pretty logically illogical ideas that he could work with.

"I don't know…" she said simply.

"But, I believe that we can prevent this from happening if we could just get to my car." She said briskly.

The Doctor began dashing off and she followed.

"What time is it?" he called back.

"I believe almost five thirty!" she answered, and they ran to the parking lot where they saw her just drive off with the other Doctor. The Doctor grabbed his head disappointed and they stood panting, as Teresa's car left the parking lot.

"Great, we just missed them. Us." Teresa groaned.

"Sorry, my timing may have been a little off." He apologized.

"Looks like we're taking a taxi." She sighed.

"Taxi? We could always just use my T.A.R.D.I.S. think of how much money we'd save on gas." He said.

Teresa face palmed. "Oh right, I forgot."

Entering the T.A.R.D.I.S., the Doctor wasted no time in starting up the engines. They held on as the familiar whiiiir, whiiiir, whiiiiir began and Teresa stretched. "Alright, next stop is my house."

The Doctor slowly opened the door of the T.A.R.D.I.S., not sure of what to expect and sighed with relief as they both saw her house. It was technically an apartment complex but Teresa referred to it as home.

"My keys are in my pocket," she told him, and she dangled them in front of him. He grinned.

"Alright, let's go catch us an alien." He said.

Entering quietly, they made their way into the garage. The Doctor held a finger to his lips and his hands slid along the wall looking for the switch to turn on the lights. Flicking the light on, their presence was greeted with silence. The car was parked in the small garage, but no sign of life could be detected by human senses. I'm not human, the Doctor thought wryly.

He whipped out his Sonic Screwdriver but then was surprised when Teresa tugged on his sleeve. "No, don't." she whispered urgently. He looked at her puzzled. "What if, the effects of your Sonic Screwdriver are what set off that alien bomb to start with? Remember how it was dormant until you triggered it?"

"How do you know it was because of me?" The Doctor asked taken aback.

"It's like a gut feeling." She said half apologetically.

He felt that was a rational defense. He lowered it. "Well, how do we find it then?" he asked her quietly.

"I have a feeling if it's not in my car…" she began.

"It must be under." The Doctor finished.

"Yeah." She replied.

A slow grin began to spread across his face as it often did in moments of great realizations and the thought of outwitting a seemingly outwittingless enemy. "Alright Teresa… I'm sorry, I never did get your last name." he asked breaking the moment he had there going for a second.

"Hendricks." She told him.

"Right-o, alright Teresa Hendricks," he said, continuing once again, "we are about to outwit a genius alien species. Let's take out the alien trash then, shall we?" he said, a dangerous glint in his eyes.

The Doctor felt that he wouldn't be able to forgive himself if he let tomorrow happen the same way. But then he paused. If he and Teresa were to stop the future that happened from happening… then what would happen to them? This is the problem with crossing my time line, he thought agitatedly, if I do one thing it will only affect everything else. The realization was hard, but it came none the less.

"Well, go on then, let's find that alien." Teresa was beckoning to him. He didn't budge.

She looked up at him, her gaze turning to worry.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered. Teresa looked at him questioningly.

"What's that you said?" she asked, cupping her hand to her ear.

"You….understand how it is….the fabric of time is very…delicate…if we were to change this event….well…." he couldn't finish. He didn't have to. Teresa saw him sink to the steps and sit there, looking completely lost. She crossed her arms.

"You've been through a lot, John, haven't you?" she said calmly.

He looked at the ground.

"Up until yesterday; and yes, I am using the past tense," she said, "I was just your typical day by day gal. I worked, actually I have an internship but that's not important. What I'm saying is, time passes. Things happen. When you popped up and were talking about your flying machine, most people would've thought you were a cuckoo."

The Doctor couldn't argue with that and he gave a little head nod and his face showed he was agreeing with what she was saying.

"I felt like you weren't lying though." She said softer. "John," she stood in front of him and he looked up at her sad face. "If this is meant to happen…then we have no choice but to let it happen. If I had the power…I would change every wrong thing in this world…" she said, and her eyes teared up just a little. The Doctor couldn't take his eyes off of her own long gaze and even though he was much older than her, he saw wisdom as old as time itself in her eyes.

"You humans…" he said, smiling sadly, " A truly remarkable race you all are."

"You're pretty remarkable yourself John Smith." She said smiling.

"SO…you're ok with letting this…just happen?" he asked her, and his face was full of questioning.

She smiled and said, "Are you?"

The answer took him by surprise. "I…" he began but then looked away. He had seen so much…escaped so many times…and yet for all the knowledge…he couldn't change this one ….small….event.

"Your heart is in the right place." She said softly.

"Hearts actually, if you count the one on my left side…" he remarked.

"You have two hearts?" she repeated.

"Yeah… " he said.

"Cool." She said. "Anyways, what are we going to do then? If not to change this event….then what?" she asked.

The Doctor thought as hard as he could. "Remember that little robot that was doing something to my T.A.R.D.I.S?" he asked.

Teresa nodded.

"I have a theory," he said, swiftly hopping to his feet and taking Teresa by surprise by his sudden energy.

"Alright, well, I think that the Reptilius, the reptile alien I encountered on that planet," the Doctor said animatedly, "it obviously must have known my weakness."

"Your weakness?" Teresa interjected.

"Yes, Teresa Hendricks, my weakness." The Doctor said, "The inability to leave those I care about unharmed. Oh yes, I don't know all those civilians, but no doubt, it thinks that I would change time just to save their lives. Which I would…if I could, I would." He said somewhat bitterly. Picking back up on his lighter mood once again, he snapped his fingers and grinned at her. Continuing he said, "And yet, my T.A.R.D.I.S. landed us back here. The reason is only possible that that particular robot that the Reptilius created was a TimeWarp Converter, a T.W.C. if you will."

Teresa raised her eyebrows at him, taking in all the info at half the rate he was telling it.

"The Reptilius knows that if I do affect my time stream, then a hole will be ripped, a small one yes, but one just enough for-"

"The Reptilius to get through and do whatever it is that it's plotting." Teresa breathed.

The Doctor grinned, "You're sharp as a whip." He said praisingly.

"Well, if you weren't going to stop the alien, then what were we going to do?" Teresa pressed.

The Doctor's eyes gleamed. "You forget, the Reptilius expects me to save these people…all of them."

"But you can't…right? The whole time rules of the universe and all that?" Teresa replied with a slight tone of remorse.

" I know, I wish I could help them. I probably would've too." He said softly.

Teresa looked at him curiously. "Why aren't you?"

"Oh you know, like you said, time space, wibbly wobbly….stuff." he said lightly.

"Well, if the Reptilius expects you to take this chance to change the future…then don't you think it'd be prepared for you if you didn't?" she asked.

The Doctor stared at Teresa and Teresa could see so many thoughts going on in that head. "That's the beauty of it." He responded. "The Reptilius doesn't expect me to not help."

"I'm sorry, I don't quite follow…?" Teresa asked helplessly.

"The Reptilius underestimated me." The Doctor said animatedly.

"Right, because you're a nice guy?" Teresa added helpfully.

"No, because he underestimated you." He replied. Teresa looked at him confused.

"Me?" she asked perplexed.

"Yes, you." He replied and a slow grin was spreading across his face and his whole face seemed to light up. "Because, that Reptilius expected you to be a weak human , a weak human who could convince me to save your fellow human beings, because, the Reptilius knows that I have a weak spot for humans. How can I not? Your race is truly remarkable." His eyes glittered.

Teresa blinked. "I'm considered weak?"

"That's the wonder of it. You're not weak; your race is one of the strongest I have ever met. Courageous, gallant, victorious, and smart. Oh Teresa Hendricks, you're truly marvelous, because even though you had the chance to change the future, you chose to instead let it happen. You showed something that is so hard for any race to show." He prattled.

"What would that be?" she asked.

"Acceptance." He whispered softly. "Even I, have some things that I have not accepted….as of yet." His voice was soft but the gleam was still there. "Right-o. Onwards we go." He said, and Teresa dashed after him to where the T.A.R.D.I.S. was hidden in the alleyway in the back of the apartment complex.

As he entered the police box, he heard Teresa ask from behind, "How do we have the advantage over this..alien?"

He turned and grinned at her, "That's simple really. I have you." He said beaming.

Teresa didn't quite follow. She wondered if it had to do with the whole acceptance speech he made about her race or whatever that long monologue had been about.

"How do I come into play?" she asked him, intrigued.

"You're my voice of reason." He stated simply. "The Reptilius expected you to be a weak hysterical creature, but look at you. Just look at you." He gazed at Teresa and she looked down a little shy all of a sudden. They entered the T.A.R.D.I.S. and the Doctor said, "I'll reverse what that robot did, after that… we'll get back on track."

"Where will we be heading then?" Teresa asked.

"Hopefully, after I reverse this…." The Doctor said, pressing buttons and waving his Sonic Screwdriver at the same time, "…my wonderful T.A.R.D.I.S. will be able to get us back on the correct time stream."

"So we'll go back to where we just were then? I mean in the past present?" Teresa pressed.

"Yes, although you make it quite confusing when you word it like that." The Doctor replied cheerfully.

"So, we aren't needed here then after all." Teresa sighed.

"No, we could have changed this event…we still can." The Doctor said softly, gazing at Teresa. Teresa smiled sadly at him.

"I want to, I want to reverse what happened so badly…but I feel like the repercussions…would be great." She said truthfully. "I suppose that's the sad part of it…having the chance and not having the chance at the same time."

"Remarkable for a normal human, aren't you?" The Doctor said in wonder. Teresa shook her head.

"I don't feel that special. I feel….hopeless." she said forlorn.

She heard the beeping and booping of the space ship as it rumbled. The engines were whirring animatedly and Teresa sank onto the couch, sighing as she did so. The Doctor drummed his fingers on the rail wrapped around the main power source of the T.A.R.D.I.S. and gazed at her cast down figure. Teresa felt weight as the Doctor sat next to her.

"When you've lived as long as I have, you get used to it." He said gently.

Teresa smiled at him, "You keep talking about how remarkable my race is…but I think you're the one who's truly remarkable. Although, I do have to say that I am one hell of a catch." She said, giving him a small smile. She sighed and closed her eyes. "I feel oddly tired…." She murmured.

"Oh right, you've been bouncing around, the truth is you'd probably be asleep right about now in normal earth time." The Doctor commented. He felt her head lean against his arm and ceased talking as her breathing was tranquil and he knew she had fallen asleep. Who could blame her? He thought, she had been through a lot within the last 24 hours. Taking it like a champ, he thought admiringly.

He was meticulous in not disturbing her slumber as he laid her head gently on a pillow and went to find a blanket to put over her. He came back and tucked her in. He gazed at her sleeping, wondering about many things and thinking about universal things like Time Lords do.

"I've got all the time in the world….eh?" he whispered softly. "Oh, you great scaly beastie…if only you could understand the true meaning behind the marvels and the consequences…that time does to a simple man….." He shook his head and hummed a small upbeat 1780's tune.

The engines whirred as though in tune to his humming and he hummed a sad tune, a happy tune, and a hopeful tune at the same time as he set the coordinates and he patted the great big energy source in front of him, and murmured, "Where to next, girl?"

CHAPTER VII

The Doctor realized that he had forgotten that Teresa hadn't eaten in a while. So, while she was slumbering away, he frantically tried looking through his storage for anything that could make food. "For all the upgrading…why didn't I think of a food storage device?" he mumbled. He scratched his head and clicked his tongue thinking. I suppose we'll have to eat out then, he thought.

He checked his radar for any abnormal alien activity and found nothing. He had a feeling that the alien would not heed his warning. Often times his warnings were unheeded although in the few rare instances that his warnings were taken into consideration were times that the matter could be resolved peacefully. He checked his tie in his mirror; he shifted between bow ties and regular ties because he found both to be fashionable neck-wear. He gazed at the face in the mirror; he'd been getting younger for some reason with each regeneration he went through, although the age never seemed to drop below at least 25. He frowned; it had been a while since he had last ever been over the age of forty.

The more limber the better I think, he thought to himself. The engines were whirring softly and the Doctor walked over to the controls to see where they were currently. "Hm, we're still within Earth's solar system…" he murmured. "You always take me where I need to go, don't you girl?" he said softly, "but where is it, that we're going?" His question was answered as an image of an adobe red planet popped up in holographic form in front of him. He gasped. "This planet?" he asked surprised. He walked around the hologram, fascinated and perplexed. He didn't notice Teresa stretching as she was slowly waking up.

She blinked a few times and saw the Doctor, making odd faces at the holographic planet illuminated in front of him. "Is that Mars?" Teresa asked instantly.

The Doctor's head whipped up when he heard her voice and a grin broke across his face. "Oh, good morning. Or would it be good night in your case?" he asked cheerfully.

Teresa stretched again and gazed interested at the hologram. "Is it?" she insisted.

The Doctor nodded. "Right you are. As to why we're going to Mars, I can only imagine…" his voice trailed off.

Teresa stood up and walked over fascinated. "So, we're going to Mars?" she pressed, and felt a little excited.

"I believe we are." The Doctor agreed. "Looks like you'll be the first one…" he continued cheerfully, "to see a real Martian."

"Wicked…" she breathed awestruck.

"Now that we're back on the right time stream, it would appear that whatever it is that creature is hiding, is on this planet." The Doctor said.

"How did you know that?" she asked amazed.

He shrugged, "I guessed."

She stared. "You guessed?" she repeated.

He nodded again. "I took an educated guess," he said grinning, "guessing is quite fun at times I think."

Teresa gazed at the hologram, thinking. She suddenly remembered something completely unrelated. She stared at the Doctor. "John," she said, "I forgot to call my family and let them know I'm ok."

The Doctor looked back at her. "You want them to know you're not dead I assume."

"Kinda, yes." Teresa replied.

"Well, wouldn't it be easier to let them think you're dead?" he asked. Teresa was caught off guard at this strange conversation.

"Why wouldn't I tell them?" she asked.

"Well, if they know you're alive then you'll probably return and then go back to your job and live life as a normal human." He said slowly, "or you can let them think you're dead and go on adventures with me."

Teresa raised her eyebrows; she wasn't shocked at his strange reasoning, rather she was just amazed at his logic in general. "So, you want me to stay with you and disregard everything else?" she asked.

"Not disregard…" he said slowly, "rather… just… "

There was a small silence that followed his words. Teresa didn't quite understand his motives or why he was suggesting such a thing; she thought it'd be fun to go on adventures with this amusing alien man but at the same time she didn't want to cause her family unnecessary grief. "I can't just not tell them." She said quietly.

"You really are a strange one aren't you?" he asked her; he wasn't upset, in fact, he was rather impressed.

"I'm sure if I show them you then it'll be easier for when I go with you on your adventures." Teresa said.

"I don't normally make house calls…." He replied.

"Well, since you've involved me in your personal life, I do believe you have some obligation to me to at least help me explain things once we're done with whatever it is your T.A.R.D.I.S. is doing." She pointed out briskly.

The Doctor scratched his head, and he reasoned that it did make some sense. "Alright then," he consented, "but first, we have to figure out what it is that Reptilius is hiding. I have a hunch, although I hope it isn't so."

Teresa looked around. "Before we go find out, where are the space suits? Since I can't breath without oxygen."

"Oh right!" the Doctor clapped his hands together energized. "I have something much better than a space suit." He dashed down a set of steps that Teresa hadn't noticed at first, and then came back up with what seemed to be…

"Glow sticks?" she asked perplexed. The Doctor had in his hand two long thin clear items that he connected around both of her wrists.

"Is that what they're called?" he asked amused.

Teresa stared at him.

"It's fine, it's fine." He reassured her, "these are O.B.'s, I call them Oxygen Bracelets. I actually tinkered a bit and created them myself." He needed something to do in his free time.

Teresa stared at them, and asked, "So, you made oxygen bracelets? But how does that help me breath?"

"It's simple really," he replied animatedly, "it doesn't look like much, but it will create a mini oxygenated force field around you. This is good to last a week."

He pressed some more buttons on his control panel and they heard a rumbling as the T.A.R.D.I.S. landed on the surface of Mars. The Doctor bound over to the door, and opened it up a crack. There was no sandstorm but dust had kicked up from the arrival of the 1970's police box and the Doctor sneezed. He pulled back and grinned at Teresa. "Great weather for a tan, although you don't need one." He said cheerfully, "Don't forget to put on some Sunblock, I think it's going to be a hot day."

With that, he exited the T.A.R.D.I.S. and Teresa followed. Stepping out, Teresa breathed in awe at the rolling shades of red around her. The Doctor held his Sonic Screwdriver up and then looked at what he'd scanned. Alien activity….he thought. It bothered him that he'd never heard about the Reptilius before. It had attacked him out of anger and even though it had been wrong to involve the lives of innocent people, he couldn't deny that it would want to use him to save its own kind. But what were the reasons for his people to interfere with the Reptilius? He had to know otherwise trying to placate the vengeful alien would be futile. The lives that had been lost were his fault, and his alone; no matter what, he could only make peace with them if he either helped the alien, or defeated it.

Teresa was watching him patiently while he looked around. He beckoned to her and the two of them walked in the direction of the crimson flaked mountains. Teresa stuck close by to him. Other than the sound of their footsteps, there was silence. Teresa decided this would be a good a time as any, to ask him some questions she'd been thinking about. "Hey John," she said. He indicated that he was listening and she continued, "you were very brief when you were talking to me before about all your past companions. Do you still ever….think about them?"

He gazed ahead and responded, "I prefer to look forward rather than backwards. It'd be like climbing out a window instead of in a window."

"Why would you climb in a window?" Teresa asked amused.

"Because who climbs out a window? Common sense Teresa Hendricks." He replied.

Teresa rolled her eyes. "I suppose anyone who's been around as long as you would rather not dwell on the past huh?" she said softly.

"I look forward," he said, "but I believe it's important to remember the past for the good times. Although the worse times seem to be fresher." He murmured to himself.

"I used to read science fiction a lot when I was a little girl," Teresa said, "Something about time travel always fascinated me. I used to think that if I could travel in time, I'd be able to stop all the bad things from happening. I could somehow rewrite a history where everyone could be happy…" she smiled a small smile and looked at the Doctor's face next to her.

"It was my companions, that taught me so much about the wonders of faith, trust and friendship hosh posh." He said smiling. "I never met any of them by chance, you know." He said cheerfully, "I feel like our meetings were meant to be. Honestly, I don't know where I'd be right now if it weren't for all of them." He replied, a sad glint in his eye. "And then you," he said brightly, "Very rational but not in a completely logical way."

Teresa sighed. "I always did have a runaway imagination." She commented. "I regret not taking that chance to change that event…" she said softly. "There are times when it's ok to change the outcome of an event, but I don't know what would have happened if we had interfered." She said.

The Doctor smiled at her, "You'll find that it's not always easy to let go."

"I keep wondering what would have happened if I hadn't met you." She said, "and that thing attached itself to my car. Would it have only activated if you were there with your Sonic Screwdriver? It's the little details that make me wish there was a way to do things differently."

"You really are a deep thinker, aren't you?" the Doctor asked amazed.

"I just do a lot of speculating," Teresa replied, shrugging.

"Speculating is good. Very useful." The Doctor agreed. "There it is." He commented and he pointed ahead of them to where the mountains loomed over them. "I reckon we'll have to scale those cliffs."

Teresa gaped. "You mean, go mountain climbing? On Mars?" she asked.

"Yes." He replied, grinning.

"We don't have the proper equipment." Teresa stated.

"Oh that's quite alright, we'll do it just like the…those….horned mammals you have living in the mountains." He said breezily.

"Do it like mountain goats?" she asked surprised. "John, they have special needs for allowing them to hop around. We don't."

"Sure we do," the Doctor replied cheerfully, "I'm sure there is some sort of ledge or something we can trek on."

"And if there isn't?" Teresa pressed.

The Doctor sighed amused and looked at her, "Teresa Hendricks, you sure do ask a lot of questions. Let's show some positivity eh?" and they stood looking up at the cliffs.

"It's almost like the Grand Canyon…" Teresa remarked. The Doctor looked at her questioningly and she explained, "It's a great big canyon. You've never been I'm guessing?"

"No, but it sure does sound wonderful. How about we check it out once we're done here." The Doctor said cheerfully.

"Only after you meet the folks." Teresa replied.

"Right, of course." The Doctor replied.

"So," Teresa said briskly, "what is it that the creature is up to that brought us here? By the way, what did you two talk about?"

"Oh nothing major. It just wants to use me to go back in time and save its race which is extinct…. regardless of the consequences." The Doctor replied brightly.

"Save its race? It caused all of that, just to get you to save its race?" Teresa repeated horrified.

The Doctor detected her tone and while he was walking around trying to find a pathway of any kind, responded over his shoulder, "The sad fact is, the impact your actions have on others becomes unimportant if the goal you're striving for is important enough. It all depends," he said running his hand along the wall of the cliff, "on how badly you want it. My guess is..." he said, disappearing behind a jutted out rock, and Teresa followed, trying to see over his shoulder as he seemed to be finding a sort of pathway now, "that the Reptilius wants my attention badly." And you'd be surprised, he thought to himself, the effects of wanting something badly enough can make anyone go mad. His face was serious only for a second and his voice sounded light again as he turned and beckoned to her. "Come, come." Teresa looked in front of her and saw more wall of the rocky formation.

"You found a wall?" she said, "you going to tell me that this is really a secret entrance?" She was half joking.

"As a matter of fact, it is a secret entrance," he said cheerfully. "Go on, ladies first." He said chivalrously.

She stared and put her hands on her hips. "Is there going to be giant steam engine train waiting for me on the platform on the other side?" she asked bemused.

"Oh, a Harry Potter fan?" he asked her.

"You?" she replied.

"I may have dappled here and there. Marvelous world she created." He said appraisingly.

Teresa took a deep breath and then ran right at the wall, heart beating fast at the prospect of going through a real portal when she felt a whamming sensation and fell backwards. Her eyes teared up from the impact and the Doctor looked at her shocked. "So sorry," he kept apologizing.

She turned to him, not amused. "Why did you just have me run at a rock wall?" she growled dusting herself off. The Doctor looked at his Sonic Screwdriver and back at her; his expression was very meek.

"I…may have miscalculated the exact position…" he said abashed.

"I'm seriously going to slap you if I run into another wall." She warned him.

"Hold on, I'll go first." He told her quickly. He felt along the wall carefully and then Teresa's eyes widened as his hand seemed to slide through into a weird wave of goopy like stuff that sent repercussioning ripples in the one small archway in the wall. "Here we go," he said and slid through.

On the inside he observed what looked like some sort of science lab facility. He stood on the metal steel steps and past the winding down staircase, he saw a space ship. A great big wonderfully crafted space ship and he looked around seeing no one present. The interior was a dull grey color with what appeared to be a bluish tint and he went to the railing and looked up, wondering what the power source could be. He noticed the very high ceiling and that the walls and the ceiling were not covered in metal. What kind of metal is this? He thought curiously, scanning. Teresa came through then and stood next to him; the look on her face was awe. Her eyes seemed to light up and she smiled.

"This is all really real then," she asked quietly, "it's not just my runaway imagination?"

"Where do you think your race thought imagination came from?" the Doctor asked her, "The universe can only fuel the imagination in my mind."

"So, where is everyone?" she asked quietly.

The Doctor shrugged, "Maybe they're on their lunch break." He joked.

Teresa's stomach growled just then. The Doctor winced.

"It's fine." Teresa replied quickly. "You can treat me after you've finished with your business here."

"So you still want me to defeat it as the only option?" the Doctor asked her curiously.

She shook her head. "I'm pissed at it. I would only wish death on someone that truly was the reincarnation of what evil is. This Reptilius…owes me a new car." She said serious. "The whole rules associated with time travel are confusing to understand, but I feel that if those civilians could be spared, they would be."

"So you accept letting it just happen then." He said.

"You're the one with the ability to change what was to what is. I leave that judgment to you." She replied softly.

The Doctor scratched his head. Then he grinned hugely, "You really are a wise soul aren't you? You look young but act about as old as me. Alright then Teresa Hendricks, let's explore this fine little base."

Teresa walked down the stairs and when she got to the bottom, she looked and saw the Doctor still at the head. She gave him a questioning gesture and he waved back to her. Her eyebrows rose as she watched him seat himself on the railing and attempt to slide down. He was smiling smugly about half way but then there was the turn and he rolled off backwards and let loose a little yelp as he hit the ground below.

She stood over him with her arms crossed clucking at him in a "serves you right" attitude. "I'd ask if you hurt your cranium but I think your ego cushioned it." She joked. She extended her hand and helped the Doctor who hopped up like he was on springs. "That sound echoed, we should leave before we get caught." She said.

The Doctor dusted himself off, and nodded to her in agreement. "Yes, yes, of course. Before all that, how does my hair look?"

"Come on," Teresa rolled her eyes and grabbing the Doctor by his sleeve, tugged him towards a giant rectangular pillar that seemed to extend into the high ceiling. Hiding behind it, they observed two doors. One was closer to them and the other was behind the right wing of the spaceship, up on a staircase that was across from the one the Doctor and Teresa had entered from. The minutes seemed to stretch on and there was no sign of any life.

"It could be in that spaceship," Teresa reasoned. "Did you see its spaceship before?"

"From the inside," the Doctor replied, gazing. "This doesn't feel like the one I was on though. We were in a different galaxy then, and something about this spaceship seems oddly familiar."

"Don't you have a guidebook or something you keep on all the aliens you meet?" Teresa asked.

The Doctor grinned his childish grin, "Great idea. I'll be sure to do that from now on."

Teresa shook her head. "All this time you spent running around the galaxy and you never thought to keep documents?"

"I did use to keep time logs." The Doctor said in his defense, "Course, they're stored deep within the T.A.R.D.I.S. now." He admitted sheepishly.

"If only I had my sketchpad," Teresa sighed.

"You an artist?" the Doctor asked surprised.

"Not a great one, but yeah, I like to draw." Teresa replied shrugging. "Now, don't get off topic. We don't know where that creature is, and we can't forget about those little robot things it created."

"What to do, what to do…." The Doctor said, leaning against the pillar in a relaxed way, one hand on his hip and the other leaning against the pillar as he scratched his head with his hand. "I wasn't actually going to bother the Reptilius after I gave it my warning," he said sighing, "but since it went and did whatever it had done to the T.A.R.D.I.S. causing a temporary time flow problem, it seems our only option is to confront once again."

"Hang on," Teresa said slowly, "remember how it was doing it to the other T.A.R.D.I.S. and we were watching it and that's when you intervened?"

"I tried to, but it managed to do its job and then teleport off." The Doctor replied, "Course it's no longer in effect now because I've dismantled it."

Teresa did her best to sum up her reasoning as she replied, "Ok, well when I met you, you didn't know about what that creature did. But after we'd gotten into the T.A.R.D.I.S. we ended up on that planet right? Then you tried to go to Nexus and we ended up back one day in your time stream. After that was when you dismantled whatever it had done and you have supposedly brought us back into the correct flow of time."

The Doctor looked at her puzzled, "Your logic…astounds me." He said brightly.

"What I'm saying is…what if we're back in our own time stream but the cycle will continue." Teresa pressed.

"Cycle?" the Doctor asked and his face showed she had his attention as well as having succeeded in completely confusing him.

"Yes, the time cycle." Teresa insisted surprised at how slow the Doctor was. "I'm saying that even after an event has occurred, it will continue to occur even though life goes on. I know it sounds confusing," she sighed agitated, "what I'm getting at is, it happened, and therefore it is concept."

The Doctor was beginning to understand what she was getting at. "Teresa Hendricks, are you saying that we may have somehow warped reality with a parallel universe by staying in the past too long?"

Teresa blinked. Actually she'd just been thinking that the alien had planted something on the T.A.R.D.I.S. that would make them repeat the past if they went back to earth. She looked at the Doctor and said, "I think we've been bugged."


	6. Chapter 8

CHAPTER VIII

"Bugged?" the Doctor repeated. "That does make sense. What I gather is that the creature,

thinking I would change reality, would give it an opportunity to mess with me enough to rip a

big enough hole in the universal plane and then somehow find a way through the river of time to

change the past." He said animatedly.

"Is it working?" Teresa asked.

"There is only one way to find out." The Doctor said and whipped out his Sonic Screwdriver.

"It's so strange though," Teresa said, "the idea that there are parallel dimensions and they can

exist within a time stream."

"Oh yes, the laws of the universe are remarkable." The Doctor agreed.

"I don't feel like we caused a time warp whatever it is you said it was." Teresa said, "I was just wondering about if that creature was somehow foretelling our actions."

The Doctor frowned, and pocketed his Sonic Screwdriver. He recalled what that creature

had said about how it claimed to have good foresight. It troubled him now. I shouldn't have

brought her with me… he thought regretfully, she's going to be in danger. He maintained a

perfect upbeat attitude and said, "We need to get back to the T.A.R.D.I.S., we'll brainstorm more

there. There's obviously nothing to see here." He bounded for the stairs and beckoned to Teresa

who followed slightly suspicious. She looked back at the strange space ship and then as though

possessed ran towards it.

Teresa wasn't really possessed, but this was a chance to see the inside of a real alien space ship

and she sure wasn't going to pass this opportunity up. The Doctor's fake smile slid off his face as he saw

her running towards the space ship. He grabbed his hair and groaned. "Now she decides not to listen?"

he groaned and he had no choice to but pursue her.

He ran down the steps when he felt a great rumbling. Stumbling, he grabbed onto the rectangular

pillar they had just been at, and peering around it, he saw the great mouth of the spaceship lowering like

a drawbridge. Teresa had stopped and was trying to maintain her balance as the rumbling continued. I

have to do something…the Doctor thought trying not to panic. He tried to motion to her to come over to

him, and was taken aback when she turned, and put a finger to her lips; a message that he was to stay

unrevealed.

He stared baffled as she turned and stood tall in the room; although she was fairly shorter than

the Reptilius that was making its way down the entrance. Its eyes flashed in shock as it saw Teresa. Her

arms were crossed and she stared it down despite the rapid beating of her heart.

"What is this…" it hissed, its eyes narrowing into mere slits. "How did a mere human get here?"

Teresa gulped and refused to break eye contact. "You are the Reptilius," she stated loudly.

"I am the last of my kind." It hissed back.

"I can't help but wonder why." Teresa replied, a touch of anger in her voice.

"Oh…" the Reptilius eyed her interested, "You are trying to put on airs. How admirable for a

lowly human." It hissed and many small robotic creatures came scurrying out of the mouth of the space

ship and Teresa still did not break her gaze from the alien. The Doctor watched as the creatures fanned

out and created a circle around Teresa, but stayed at some distance. "How did you get here?" it hissed.

"Unless…."

The Doctor had no idea what Teresa Hendricks was up to but if he revealed himself too soon,

she'd be in greater danger than she already was.

Teresa gazed at the creature and pointed at it, "I have a question for you."

"I am amused." It hissed, "You think you have the ability to command me?" Its eyes flashed and

Teresa clutched her head a second later as red hot pain seared through. She yelped and the Doctor gritted

his teeth. He had to think of something, and fast.

Teresa gasped as the pain left as quickly as it had come. She wobbled and collapsed to her knees,

tears flooding her eyes. The impact had been overwhelming. Her heart beat fast and she began to regret

trying to challenge the alien with nothing. It stood a certain distance from her and said, "You must be

the companion to the Time Lord child."

It looked around and the Doctor was ready for his cue but Teresa's voice rang out, "I came on

my own."

The Reptilius hissed at her, and its head tilted confused. "How…" it hissed suspiciously.

"That answer should be obvious…" Teresa said bravely, and she struggled to her feet. The

Doctor slid down behind the pillar, still undetected and closed his eyes whispering, "Don't say it, don't

say it, don't for the love of Neptune, don't say that-"

"I came here in my T.A.R.D.I.S. " she declared.

The Doctor groaned.

The reptile moved closer and sniffed, saying, "You smell of all human."

"Of course, I have to hide my scent lest beasts like you find me." Teresa declared. "I am indeed,

a Time Lord."

Her words echoed in the high ceiling room. The Doctor hit his head quietly but repeatedly

against the pillar. What is that crazy woman up to? He grimaced.

"You only have one heart." It hissed.

Teresa had forgotten about that. Oops.

"Well, it's a birth defect." She argued.

Her eyes darted to the strange robotic aliens and she tried to figure out how they were working.

"You lie!" it hissed and Teresa felt the pain in her head again. Her eyes teared up but she didn't

cry out. "You can't possibly be…I already spoke with the last of the Time Lords….you are trying to

distract me!"

Teresa felt herself be hit before the blow made impact. The creature flicked its tail and told its

creations, "Kill her!"

All the small creatures shot their beams at her and she in one swift movement, blew them all up.

The creature roared in anger and shock. Teresa stood, arm raised above her head, and in her hand, she

held the Sonic Screwdriver. "Let's not have a repeat of that." She said, eying the stunned creature.

The Doctor checked his pockets and looked up in shock. "Oh, she's good…" he breathed quietly.

He peered around and saw her holding it up and the Reptilius hiss and lunge at her. Teresa back

stepped quickly and pointed the Sonic Screwdriver right at the creature as it turned in her direction.

"But how," it howled, "you're just a mere human!" It slashed at her and she ran opposite of the

spaceship; she was running in the direction of one of the staircases. She ran up the steps and the scaly

creature followed her roaring.

"Listen up and listen up good." She declared, "you messed with my home. You trashed my car,

and you killed innocent people. The only reason why I haven't killed you by now is simple." She

lowered her voice, "I leave that to John Smith."

Her words rang loud and clear and the Doctor was completely astounded at the show she was

putting on. "Remarkable…" he whispered in awe.

"I'll kill you myself!" the creature roared and the Doctor knew that wasn't a good prospect.

Teresa's heart beat faster as the adrenaline coursed through her veins, giving her the energy, and

the impulsive action she needed in order to distract the alien. She'd almost died because of it and she

counted herself very fortunate to have been with the Doctor. The T.A.R.D.I.S. had brought them here

and she felt this could only be the reason. She told the creature, "Why would my friend help you after

you involved the lives of those innocent people?"

The creature swished its tail as it lunged for her roaring, "If he doesn't, then I shall destroy Earth

by creating a black hole at the Earth's core." Teresa realized the door she had been trying to get through

was now locked, and the creature was coming ever sinisterly closer. "Yeah, that'll totally change his

mind about you." She rolled her eyes. She pointed the Sonic Screwdriver at the door and the blue light

turned green. She pushed the door open and then stumbled into a long white hallway. She made

whistling sounds to agitate the angered alien and ran down the corridor, the Reptilius following her

blinded by rage and forgetting about looking for the Doctor.

The Doctor watched the door slide shut and the two shadows fade and he face palmed. "What

does she want me to do that she'd do all of that?" he groaned. Thinking, he thought, That's it! Whatever

it was that the Reptilius planned on using to create the dark hole, had to be on its space ship! "Of course!

This is a new and improved space ship…" the Doctor breathed, "the other one must have been its way of

teleporting between galaxies. When my Sonic Screwdriver caused it to malfunction…it must have only

had enough for one good trip before the old ship exploded. That's it!" he exclaimed gleefully. He ran

towards the ship, but stopped and instinctively looked both ways. "Red light means stop…" and just

then the door to his left opened and there appeared Teresa with the angry alien behind her roaring and

the Doctor said, "and a crazy mad reptilian that wants to kill you means GO!"

Teresa whirled and sealed the door and both of them heard a resounding THWAM as the beast

hit the door head on causing a full sized indent to appear. The Doctor whistled. Teresa staggered over

panting, and he ran over to her to help her. "How was I?" she asked, grinning, a mischievous glint in her

eyes.

"You are in so much trouble young lady," he said sternly. "You disobeyed me, stole my Sonic

Screwdriver and then nearly got yourself killed by angering a crazy vengeful Reptilius."

She smiled sheepishly. "I didn't know it was actually here, I just wanted to see what was in the

ship because I figured since we were here it'd be wise to try uncovering any clues."

"That was very, very stupid of you." He stated very stern. Teresa searched for any sort of silly

glint in his eyes but her face fell when she saw he was being serious. "As soon as we get back, I'm

dropping you off so your family won't worry." He turned away and began to ascend the spaceship steps.

She blinked. "Oh, and one more thing," he added.

"Yes?" she asked, hoping to hear a childish remark to let her know that he wasn't really mad

with her.

"My Sonic Screwdriver if you will?" he held out his hand and she reluctantly handed it to him.

They heard a faint moan from the smashed door and the Doctor quickly beckoned for her to move. "That

won't keep it out for long. We need to get in, and get out. Can you do that for me?" he asked her serious.

She nodded, surprised and a little hurt at his change in tone with her.

"You humans truly are fascinating creatures," he said sighing, "I can always expect the

unexpected when it comes to you."

"I'm sorry," Teresa said in a small voice, "I didn't want it to catch you and I had your Sonic

Screwdriver because I thought that it'd be a good defense if there was a forcefield or something

surrounding it that turns people to dust or something."

"You're right," the Doctor said raising his eyebrows, "You do have an active imagination."

"Well, come along then." He said cheerfully and Teresa followed him up. Teresa wanted to stay

with him and go on space adventures and she felt upset at herself because she felt that now she had

ruined all chance of that…. The one time when it wasn't just a dream… Her heart sank. She had to think

of a way to make it up to him. The Doctor sensed that his sudden change in attitude had unsettled her but

he felt that he couldn't have someone that was too reckless to go with him on his travels. He had a

feeling that she would try to fix things by doing something impulsive again to try to prove to him that

she was a necessary asset. He wanted to turn around, smile hugely and tell her he was just joking but he

didn't.

Why did the T.A.R.D.I.S. lead me to her? He questioned. He had a feeling it didn't have to do

with this Reptilius alien…no… there was a different reason. But what was it? He was brought out of his

daydream as hot wind shot past his face and a split second later, there were more robotic creatures that

surrounded them.

Teresa moved behind the Doctor and she asked, "How many of them are there?"

The Doctor himself did not know, but he quickly counted the ones that were there and turned to

Teresa. "There's a lot." He replied.

"Thanks for those statistics." Teresa grumbled.

The Doctor observed his surroundings calculating. The interior was a rather large room, about

half the size of the interior of his T.A.R.D.I.S. and with many more odd buttons that flashed. The little

robots surrounding them resembled a wave as they all surrounded them. The Doctor knew that those

little robots had very sensitive laser beams pointed at him and Teresa. His hand in his pocket, he

activated the Sonic Screwdriver and a split second later, the little robots overheated and burst into

flames, running into each other and beeping.

"Be careful! You don't want to set off any of those…other robotic bombs." She tugged at his

sleeve.

"Oh yes," the Doctor recalled, "I'll be careful."

It hit them before either had time to fully react. Teresa went flying against a wall and slid down,

knocked out. The Doctor was flung against the opposite wall. Winded he slid down and blinked

groggily. "Teresa?" he mumbled struggling to his feet. His vision was blurred but he made out the

shape of not one…but two Reptilius? He shook his head again and felt himself being lifted off the

ground by the front of his coat and he struggled to break free.

"You were too full of yourself," the creature hissed, "thinking yourself to be invincible when at

the moment; you are as weak as that petty little human girl."

"Come, come," the Doctor said hazily, "no need for violence eh? What do you say to us just

chatting it all-" He felt himself go flying in response. Rubbing his head he mumbled, "That's not using

your negotiation skills very well…"

He saw out of the corner of his eye, Teresa being tied by more little robots that had avoided the

signal from his Sonic Screwdriver. His focus snapped back into gear. Before the creature could swing at

him again, he rolled over and aimed his Sonic Screwdriver right at the controls behind it, causing them

to overheat. The creature swirled and was momentarily distracted and he took this chance to blow up a

few more of the robots and reached Teresa. "What have you done!" the creature hissed in horror.

"I gave you a fair warning…" the Doctor said picking up Teresa, still pointing his Sonic

Screwdriver at the Reptilius. "Despite that, you were willing to make the center of the Earth into a new

black hole. I would have let you go, honestly I would've." He said softly, "but after knowing what you

plan to do…how can I now?" he said.

"You won't find it here Time Lord child!" it sneered at him. The Doctor looked at the creature,

and it lunged at him. His Sonic Screwdriver sent it flying backwards a second later and it lay among the

wreckage of its control room groaning. He held his thumb above a smaller blue button located on the

side.

"Just one click of this button…" he said softly.

The creature narrowed its slits at him in shock. "You can't do anything from this distance…" it

hissed. "It's impossible!"

The Doctor stared directly into the eyes of the Reptilius and said, "You did this to yourself. But

it's never too late to change. I'm giving you the chance to change." He was half pleading with the

Reptilius. "I understand your pain," he said, "alone…scared….but you don't have to be alone."

He didn't notice the Reptilius discreetly pressing a few buttons behind its back. He turned in

surprise as he saw the door to the space ship rumble closed and he staggered to maintain his balance

since he was holding an unconscious girl.

"Then so be it….I won't let you leave here alive!" it roared. "You who has always traveled with

humans? You're never alone! I'm the one who truly knows what solitude is! You've let yourself become

weak from being influenced by humans!"

The Doctor replied sharply, "Don't underestimate me. I'm giving you an olive branch here, if

you don't take it….then it's your own fault for what happens next." As he expected, the creature

attempted to use its mind power over him but he was stronger this time. The signal from the Sonic

Screwdriver intercepted the Reptilius's mind signal and it writhed in pain on the ground. The Doctor's

face was emotionless.

"It's too late…" the creature hissed weakly.

"I gave you your chance." He said grim.

"You…are a fool…" it hissed at him. "I have already activated the dark hole!"

The Doctor's face flitted with real genuine horror. His mouth went dry and he was at a loss for

words.


	7. Chapter 9

CHAPTER VIIII

The smoke became more apparent and the fire crackled and the loose cables fizzled and water dripped down from the wreckage of the interior of the space ship. The Doctor was meanwhile faced with the decision of either leave and let the Earth become the next black hole, or stay and be caught up in the explosion of the self-destructing space ship.

There is never an easy option for me is there? He thought amused. Oh well, I'll think of something. I always do. He eyed the creature who eyed him in return; Teresa made a little sound as she woke up in a daze. "Do you feel ok?" The Doctor asked.

She nodded, "I think so…" she felt the back of her head and then a look of shock flitted across both their faces. On her hand was an extreme amount of blood. The Doctor realized he'd been so focused on the creature that he had neglected to check the girl adequately He kicked himself mentally and hurriedly, he helped sit her down, and taking off his neck tie, handed it to her to staunch the bleeding. "It's ok, just a small bump…" she mumbled, "…got this once when I was a little girl…was swinging and hit a metal pole at …"

The Doctor had the urge to ask her how you hit a pole with the back of your head, but didn't. The creature laughed weakly, struggling to its feet. The Doctor knew that this alien was beyond help. Even if he did get his reasons for why his people had attacked theirs…it was pointless now that he was determined to defeat this alien.

"The ship will blow in five minutes….you have no chance of escape…. And Earth will be consumed!" it hissed gleefully.

"You must think yourself to be a bloody Martyr." The Doctor said quietly, his anger masked by his perfect poker face.

"Don't you look at yourself the same way?" it sneered in response.

The Doctor felt Teresa tug on his sleeve, "John, I think this alien is nuts."

"I know." The Doctor replied, turning back to the alien that now had somehow gotten an alien gun and was pointing it right at them both.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." It hissed triumphantly. The Doctor had his Sonic Screwdriver raised and he saw not one…but at least twenty of those alien bombs scuttle from the secret entrances on both sides of the main control room and form four rows of five in front of the alien.

Teresa and the Doctor were in a tight spot. The Doctor had been in tight spots before; a challenge always gave him an extra burst of energy.

Teresa's eyes darted around the control room, looking for anything that could help them. She was good at timing and she knew that they only had two minutes. She didn't see how anyone sane could possibly get out of this no win situation. Even an insane person wouldn't be able to get out of this situation. She spotted the dripping wires that were reacting faintly to the sparks. An idea clicked. It was an insane life threatening idea…but it was just logical enough to actually work. "John," she said abruptly.

The Doctor without taking his eyes off of the scaly beast, replied, "Teresa Hendricks, I'm doing the best I can."

"Yes, but I'm thirsty." She emphasized the thirsty. The Doctor looked at her confused. She repeated loudly, "If we're going to die anyways, why not have a toast?" The Doctor still did not get what she was prattling about and the creature hissed firing up its gun. In one fluid movement she grabbed the Sonic Screwdriver, and holding his hand directed him to point at the wires instead of at the scaled beast or the robots and as water erupted from above, it roared and the Doctor yelped in surprise as Teresa tugged him upwards and instinctively they both were swept around in the flood as it consumed the interior of the ship and the creature hissed as it flailed. Teresa and the Doctor watched as the small robots were malfunctioning because of the water and the Doctor looked at Teresa in amazement.

"Water conducts electricity," she pointed out, "fire won't be an issue, but we have to get away from the water…or we'll be the ones getting toasted."

They heard the creature hiss in anger and as they bobbed up through the hole where the water had erupted, they climbed onto the roof of the space ship. The Reptilius below hissed and made to swiftly grab the Doctor by his leg and Teresa yelled as the Doctor fell backwards and into the water. The beast held onto him, preventing him from escaping as he fought back. Air bubbles bobbed to the surface and Teresa watched helplessly from above as she saw the Doctor sinking lower and lower and she frantically fumbled with the Sonic Screwdriver. "Come on… what else can you do?" she mumbled. It bleeped open and she saw an odd ballpoint appear at the tip; like the tip of a ballpoint pen and she frowned. She didn't question it then, she just instinctively pointed it right at the Doctor and as a beam of blue light shot down into the water, a split second later, the beam returned with a wet and frazzled Doctor. He coughed and she patted his back repeatedly. He rolled over on his back and blinked; he was completely soaked and completely surprised.

"How…in the name of Jupiter….did you do that?" he panted, looking at her with utter awe and mainly bewilderment.

She grinned, "I pressed the Sonic space evaluator, then the Sonic wave electrifier and slid my thumb on the Sonic-"

"Alright, alright, I get it…pay back for earlier…migraine accomplished…" he said waving his hand at her dismissively; but he was smiling warmly.

They both heard a sudden loud BREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Teresa gasped. "That's the sound of the space ship self-destructing in less than ten seconds!" she yelped horrified. She scrambled to the edge of the roof but groaned as the drop was more than 20ft. below them.

"How'd you do that?" the Doctor repeated, eyeing his Sonic Screwdriver.

"John, we're about to explode! There isn't time to figure out the great interworkings of your fabulous Sonic Screwdriver!" Teresa said annoyed.

"Ok, let's just forget for one second that we're about to go kaboom, I'm asking you," he said briskly, "How did you do that?"

Teresa shook her head frantically and finally tried to remember what she'd done previously. She looked at the screwdriver and tried to find the button that she'd pressed and she pressed on it, praying for it to work. The Sonic Screwdriver felt hot in her hands and she yelped, dropping it. The Doctor gasped and made a lunge for it, catching it, just as it was about to roll off the edge of the roof. He sighed with relief and rolled back over and hopped up.

Just then the spaceship exploded.

Teresa screamed and was still screaming, even after she and the Doctor had been zapped into the inside of the T.A.R.D.I.S. The Doctor stumbled around dazed and a familiar face caught him as he leaned on for support. Looking up he said, "Martha Jones?" Sure enough, Martha Jones was supporting him, and he realized they had somehow been returned to the T.A.R.D.I.S….but the question was, "How?" he asked.

Another, familiar, and very cocky voice boomed, "You haven't changed one bit have you Doctor?" out stepped in front from behind the controls of the T.A.R.D.I.S., a man with a forever young face and the Doctor's eyes widened in surprise.

"Captain Jack…." He breathed. A slow grin broke out across his face and he animatedly bounced back.

Teresa had stopped screaming and was looking quite perplexed at the two new strangers in front of her. "Wait no…you actually have changed quite a bit," Jack boomed again, "Finally removed that stick that was up your ass those few regenerations ago? Or does that only keep regenerating new and improved as well?"

"Hn. Very funny." The Doctor rolled his eyes.

Teresa wondered what his relationship with these people were but she was just grateful that they had been saved. "How did you save us?" she asked incredulous.

Jack walked over to her, and offered her is hand; a completely gentleman demeanor face smiling at her. She gratefully took his hand and that's when he noticed the blood. "You're bleeding." He said stunned. Martha hurried over and she directed the girl to the couch and set forth to helping her head injury. The Doctor looked at his Sonic Screwdriver and grimaced; it would need cleaning.

Martha checked her out and then said, "She only bumped the top layer of skin…at most she'll have a small goose egg…but it's not life threatening."

The Doctor and Captain Jack breathed in relief. Teresa had another pressing matter and she asked, 'John, we still have to stop the black hole!"

"Been there, done that." Captain Jack replied coolly, "Since when did you call yourself John?" he turned to the Doctor, eyebrows raised.

"John Smith is my other name I go by…although most people call me the Doctor…" the Doctor said innocently.

Martha nodded at Jack, "When he was the tenth Doctor, he actually tried being human for some time…called himself John Smith."

Jack snickered, "Had to pick a different J eh? I know, you wish you could use Jack, but there is only enough for one Jack in this crew."

"Will there be enough room to fit both their egos?" Teresa whispered to Martha. Martha smiled, and laughed. The two men turned in surprise to her and she resumed what she was doing to Teresa's head innocently. "What's this about regenerations and who are you two?" Teresa asked.

Martha looked to Captain Jack who answered, "It's a very long, long, long. Long." He took a deep breath, "long, long, long, long, story, and filled with much heroism and hard battles fought and won… well….he helped a little," he joked, pointing at the Doctor, " …and let us not forget Bad Wolf…" he raised his eyebrows at the Doctor who looked away innocently. "The Doctor here, he did something that he still hasn't taken responsibility for."

"What?" The Doctor asked confused.

"Oh come on, don't tell me you've forgotten. I was made immortal remember?" he looked at the Doctor with his eyebrows raised.

"That wasn't my doing," the Doctor replied coolly. Captain Jack raised his eyebrows higher, "Oh? Who else could've…." His voice trailed off and Teresa saw a flicker of something clicking that she didn't know about and then the second odd man coughed and said briskly, "Right well, anyways, Martha and I have already gone and prevented the dark hole generator device as well as saving you two in our free time."

"How did you ….find us?" Teresa asked incredulously.

"Quite simple really," Captain Jack said cheerfully, "I used my new and improved Ultrasonic biophysical vortex manipulator."

"Escuse me, did you just say…Ultrasonic?" the Doctor asked bemused.

"Why yes I did, you may have that rusty old Sonic Screwdriver, but I have something Ultrasonic, why? Jealous old man?" Jack grinned.

Teresa watched these two men as the Doctor seemed to carry on wittily with the other man. "Excuse me, Jack?" she asked.

"There should be a Captain in there, somewhere." Captain Jack said and then blinked. "I think I just made a Pirates of the Caribbean reference."

"It's ok, I made a Lion King reference once." The Doctor shrugged.

Martha smiled at Teresa, "So, you must be the new companion huh? How'd you get involved with him?"

"Met him in Vegas." Teresa replied.

Captain Jack snorted. "That's a new one for the books."

"He seems really…upbeat for an old guy." Teresa commented.

Captain Jack grinned, "Ho, you should've seen his first generation. He was quite energetic."

The Doctor looked at Captain Jack confused. "You went back to when I first arrived?" he stated taken aback.

Captain Jack grinned, and pointing his thumb at the Doctor said gleefully, "I think it's so wonderful that in hindsight we now know that this grumpy old man is actually the Doctor at his most youthful...hell it might be the equivalent of his teenage rebellious years …that'd make Colin Baker and McCoy his mid-life crisis…."

" Did he come with someone?" Teresa asked curious.

The Doctor felt uncomfortable; Susan's face was looming in his mind and he didn't want to talk about it. Changing subjects by prattling on about confusing things was one of his specialties. "Ah, hello, new subject." He said cheerfully, "Does anyone know where the Quantum space chic fillet happens to be?"

"What?" Martha asked.

"My space and time….chicken." he replied.

Martha rolled her eyes. "Doctor, you're goofing." She said sternly.

"Ah, you're talking to me again…are we…cool?" the Doctor replied cheerfully.

Martha sighed, "Actually, I'm only here because Captain Jack requested it."

The Doctor's face fell a little but he grinned none the less. "Ah well, the more the merrier I always say…and the T.A.R.D.I.S. was doing some updating a bit back so now it may be smaller than it was previously but it does have more useful assets…"

"When you say ….smaller…what things had to give?" Captain Jack asked curiously.

"Oh you know…kitchen…ping pong room…" the Doctor started.

"Hold on, we had ping pong?" Martha and Jack asked surprised.

"Yes…but that was after you two weren't around, and Martha…you're older than when we last talked. I forgot to mention that when I saw you…earlier." the Doctor said sheepishly.

Teresa listened and watched in interest as Martha swatted the Doctor but she saw that something was still stiff about their relationship. She wondered what could have happened between them. Old lovers? She mused. She sighed and felt oddly better and she hoped that the Doctor wouldn't remember about his anger at her.

"Alright...well… since you two have already saved the Earth without me…." The Doctor said cheerfully, "I just have to make a quick stop at Teresa Hendrick's home to return her to her family."

Teresa's heart sank. He hadn't forgotten.

And she didn't have the strength to argue with him because she felt that arguing wouldn't get her anywhere.

The Doctor set his coordinates cheerfully and everyone grabbed a hold of something as the T.A.R.D.I.S. rumbled. It seemed only seconds before they arrived at Teresa's parents' home. Teresa was reluctant to go, she couldn't.

The Doctor stepped out and beckoned to her, and she reluctantly followed him.

She was surprised to find it was evening but figured it was to be expected. "Come along then, no time for diddle daddling." The Doctor said cheerfully. He bounced up the steps and rang the doorbell.

A woman opened the door and asked, "Who are you?"

"Hello, I'm the Doctor," the Doctor said, waving, "and I am here to take your lovely daughter on space and time adventures with me."

Teresa gaped. She wasn't the only one.

"Teresa?" the woman gasped, and looked to see Teresa standing on the lawn. Her eyes welled up with tears. "Oh my god, Jim, Jim she's alive!" and her father came to the door in an instant and they both pushed past the Doctor who stepped to the side as best he could in such a cramped space, and they hugged Teresa. Teresa felt very awkward but she hugged them both; she knew they had been worried about her.

"Honey, come inside." Her father Jim said.

"I can't." Teresa said.

"What do you mean you can't?" her mother sputtered, 'for god's sake we've been thinking you were dead for the past seven hours!"

Teresa didn't know how to explain all that had happened because she felt that her parents wouldn't understand.

Jim glared at the Doctor who looked around not sure why he was getting the death stare. "This man you say is the reason you're not dead then." He growled.

Teresa nodded. "It's really complicated but yeah. Also, that old late 1900's police box, it's his T.A.R.D.I.S. and he can fly through time and space."

Her parents stared blankly at her. Her mother put a hand over her mouth and said, "Oh my god, oh my god. He's brainwashed her Jim! That mad man brain washed her!"

"I prefer the Doctor…" the Doctor interrupted as politely as he could.

"You and your blue box are coming with us to the police." Jim growled at the Doctor. The Doctor sighed and put his hands up.

"Very well then," he said submissively. Teresa tried to get a read on what he was doing. He had been inching slowly to the T.A.R.D.I.S. and he gave Teresa quick wink and then hopped into the T.A.R.D.I.S. before anyone had time to react. Teresa heard that whirring sound as the light flashed and her heart beat faster.

The Doctor closed the door and turned to see Jack already handling the controls while Martha sat reading a book. They looked up and Jack said, "Where's that girl?"

"She's not coming." The Doctor said.

"What? You're just going to leave her there and expect things to work themselves out?" Martha asked disapprovingly.

The Doctor didn't know how to respond to that without sounding like an ass, so he said, "Things always work out in the end." As he said that, he heard the door of the T.A.R.D.I.S. open; and the sounds of Teresa's parents yelling and turned to see her, frazzled but otherwise she was back in the T.A.R.D.I.S.

"You are so not getting rid of me that easy," she said panting.

"You always know how to pick them, don't you Doctor?" Captain Jack said, shaking his head amused.

"What's that mean?" Teresa challenged.

"Nothing," Captain Jack grinned, a mischievious glint in his eye, "I just had a feeling you wouldn't give in that easy."

"Like hell I was," Teresa put her hands on her hips and looked at the Doctor, "...I want to come with you and your gang. I know that I'm not the best behaved at times, but I think we make a pretty good team and in addition," she put her hand up to stop the Doctor who was about to speak, "...you owe me a new apartment and a car. So, Unless you have the money to pay for all the damages, I'll take space and time adventures as payment until I can find a new place to live in the future. What do you have to say to that?"

A slow grin spread across the Doctor's face, "...I didn't think you would give up that easily either... and you're reasons are valid... I warn you, it'll be dangerous."

"Danger is my game," she said calmly.

"Lots of scary monsters..."

"None as scary as my mother when she's angry at me for bringing a mad man in a bluebox with me home and then turning promptly around and getting back in..."

"... You could die."

"Well, I better start livin' it up then, yeah?"

"... There will be other creatures wanting to get to you to get to me," he said sternly.

"...Doctor, she's obviously not going to be deterred," Captain Jack raised his eyebrows amused. Teresa flashed him a grin.

The T.A.R.D.I.S. rumbled and then began to become more serene and Jack said, "We're flying within Earth's solar system still, we'll be just orbiting the Earth for a while until this crazy man with a blue box has other plans."

"Well, I won't let him get in the way of my plans. Captain Jack, can you take me back to Mickey's? I can't leave the kids at home with just him for too long." Martha said briskly.

Teresa annulled her idea of the Doctor and Martha being old lovers; she noticed that something about the way Martha spoke to the Doctor was as though something big had happened in the past… something big enough to damage whatever friendship they had. But what had happened? Teresa didn't want to pry so she didn't. She was mainly just glad that the Doctor had let her come back on board and she knew her parents would cope somehow.

"Well, your parents seemed lovely." The Doctor was saying cheerfully, and he was back at the controls and had set the course for Martha's home. Teresa raised her eyebrows.

Captain Jack announced, "Martha, we're at your stop." Martha nodded and the Doctor bounded over to the door to help and she politely nodded and then turned exited the T.A.R.D.I.S. the door shut closed behind her and it was only Captain Jack, the Doctor, and Teresa now.

Teresa didn't know when she'd fallen asleep but when she woke up, she realized that the lights were dimmed and the Doctor was resting on the steps by the controls and Captain Jack was not in sight. Teresa groggily rubbed her eyes and looked at the Doctor's sleeping figure. What an interesting fellow, she thought amused, and then she heard a knocking on the T.A.R.D.I.S. door. The Doctor woke with a start and shared a glance with Teresa. Jack called from down the stairs, "Who the heck is banging like it's kingdom come?"

Teresa saw the Doctor rise slowly and then take a few strides towards the door. She wondered what he was doing and who was on the other side of that door. Her heart began to pound. "Erm, who is it?" The Doctor asked through the door. There was a moment of silence.

"Hello, Sweetie," a female commanding and yet playful voice, replied. The Doctor had an expression that Teresa didn't know and then to her surprise, he opened the door and there in the doorway stood a blonde curly haired woman in a black cocktail dress and a glass of wine, a gun in her holster around her waist, and as soon as the Doctor opened the door, she threw herself into his arms while he had a look of utter confusion.

"Wh-What are you?-"

"Surprised? I saw you were in town and thought I'd say hi... I've missed you..." she said, stroking his cheek. The Doctor's ears began to turn red and Teresa had never seen him look as disleveled as he did now -but not annoyance- more like... shyness? The Doctor...shy?

Teresa wondered what kind of powers the woman possessed.

She cleared her throat.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, how rude of me," the woman flashed Teresa a warm grin, "I'm River Song... you can just call me River or Mrs. Doctor River Song."

Teresa's Jaw dropped.

The Doctor was married?

The Doctor coughed and nimbly wriggled out of the woman's hug. Teresa looked at him and he nodded in response to her mental question of, is this really true?

"My...you do look different...regeneration sure is a fascinating thing, almost didn't recognize you..." the woman said, and she kissed the Doctor on the cheek. "But your hair is still as messy as ever. You still running around alot?"

"Oh yes," The Doctor replied, "There's always lots of running."

"I like a man who can keep up," the woman replied in a playful sexy voice. Teresa raised her eyebrows again.

"So…what now?" Teresa asked curious.

"Well, I'm here to accompany the Doctor and you-his newest companion- in an alien investigation that only the Doctor can solve." she turned to the Doctor and Teresa knew that the woman was serious. Captain Jack came up the stairs and raised his eyebrows when he saw River Song. The Doctor had another thought on his mind and he turned to Jack to ask it.

The Doctor played with his controls and replied, "Firstly, before I do anything else, I've been meaning to ask you... how did you find Martha and then myself?"

Captain Jack scratched his head and grinned, "I told you, my Ultrasonic biophysica-"

"Alright, alright, a simple time tracker. Just say so." The Doctor cut him off, rolling his eyes. "Dare I ask how you knew what going on?" he pressed.

Captain Jack smirked and replied, "Oh well, I have my ways," and he wouldn't reveal any more than that. The Doctor was burning to know the answer but it was apparent that Captain Jack was having too much fun lording the fact that the Doctor couldn't figure it out himself.

Suddenly, Teresa's stomach growled for all to hear.

"Does the T.A.R.D.I.S. have a fridge?" Teresa asked meekly.

Captain Jack replied, "Not that I know of."

The Doctor face palmed himself and said, "Oh my stars, I'm very sorry. You haven't eaten in the last few hours have you? Alright then, how about we go to 1930's Pari?"

Teresa raised her eyebrows, "You mean eat in the 1930's, in Paris?"

"Of course!" the Doctor beamed.

"You know what they say... that Pari is the romantic get away..." River Song whispered into the Doctor's ear and the Doctor -slightly blushing- remained composed and sidestepped her.

"Sweetie... we haven't been alone since my wedding..." she said dissapointed.

"Uh well...lots to do...lots to do...very busy..." he mumbled not making eye contact.

River Song smiled and skipped over to the controls as well and elbowed him playfully, "Hey, no need to be a stranger," and she laughed.

Teresa was really interested in their relationship, but she was also very interested in lunch.

"Lovely then! You'll get to try the French snail." The Doctor said cheerfully, reading Teresa's facial expression and bubbling over with energy.

Captain Jack shook his head, "You really have changed haven't you?…although your 9th self was serious and introverted, your 10th self was more quirky and I believe I met your once eccentric 11th self but I haven't seen you since then. Frankly, your drastic change each time you do that…regeneration thing is fascinating." He eyed the Doctor curiously who was keeping rather quiet.

"Wait, you mean he's had 11 regenerations?" Teresa asked amazed.

"Yes he has, although I don't know what number this one is." Captain Jack shrugged. "He could probably go on forever."

"That's me, I'm special." The Doctor joked, but his heart was sinking. He didn't like having the ability to regenerate… but he figured to humans that would sound wonderful. As for the Doctor, every time he regenerated his memories of his past selves were stored; he didn't understand why he was seeing stuff from his past more frequently. His hearts beat and he put on his happy mood saying, "I do say, French Cuisine is to die for."

A while later, Teresa was sitting with the Doctor, his wife, and Captain Jack at a small French café; gazing at a wonderful view of the Eiffel Tower. Even though Teresa didn't know French, the T.A.R.D.I.S. had this weird capability to apparently extend her power to translate for the Doctor as well as her and Captain Jack.

Teresa stared at the Eiffel Tower, thinking about how she would explain herself to her parents the next time she saw them; if there was a next time. She didn't know what sort of dangers she'd face with the Doctor and Captain Jack… but she was looking forward to it. That weird Reptilius creature she'd sketched in her mind and she wanted to ask if it was possible for her to get a sketchpad. She also wondered why no one was questioning the odd clothes she and her companions were wearing.

The Doctor could tell that there were many thoughts swirling around in Teresa's mind and he wanted to ask her what she was thinking about. Then Teresa asked, "How come no one is questioning what we wear?"

The Doctor grinned, "Oh well, you are dressed out of this time zone aren't you?"

"Won't I raise questions? Won't we all?" Teresa asked interested, eyeing the Doctor in his outfit, Captain Jack's military like outfit, and River Song's cocktail dress -she still had the wine-.

"I don't think we will." The Doctor shrugged, "and if we do, we can always leave."

Captain Jack raised his eyebrows and leaning to Teresa he whispered, "I swear, the older he gets, the more reckless."

"What? I can't hear you. What'd you say? I'm an old man who isn't getting any younger…on the inside I mean." The Doctor said, cupping his hand around his ear and speaking very loudly.

Teresa couldn't suppress a small smile. These two were really having a go at each other…but she saw it as no more than two egotistical men squabbling. What she found fascinating was what she'd learned about the strange man with the blue box in this short time. She wondered what new adventures awaited them...


End file.
